Corruption
by bossy
Summary: Revisions complete Highten View Terrace resulted in the deaths of many people. Years later, the 'Chosen' meet for the first time after spending their lives in hiding after a disaster cleared away most of Tokyo, leaving them branded as hate targets.
1. 1

A/N: Revisions! Revisions! New chapters coming later (much later...)

Disclaimer: This goes for the entire story...I make no money off this fic. That's why it's called _fan_fiction.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter One **

"Run!"

Kari was doing just that, but was quickly running out of energy at the same time. She was cradling her fallen Gatomon in her arms, praying to whatever deity that would listen that her precious friend would be alright. Behind her, her brother and another boy were also carrying their digimon, panting just as hard as she was at the added weight. A loud roar rang through the air, and Kari was reminded of just what was behind the boys.

"He's gaining," declared Izzy, the red headed computer whiz that had been claimed as a best friend by her brother Tai. In his arms rested the bug-like Tentomon, still unconscious from his last battle.

"Then we should run faster!" yelled Tai, clutching his yellow dinosaur Agumon tightly against his chest.

Another roar sounded, and Kari felt the sudden compulsion to look behind them at their pursuer, Airdramon. In her quick glance she caught sight of his eyes, and a red glow seemed to emanate from them for just a second. It was blinked away, and another roar filled the air as the Airdramon came in for a dive at them.

"Duck!" Kari called out, then dove to the ground and rolled, careful of Gatomon's injuries. The others followed suit, and the Airdramon caught nothing in his jaws but ten feet of turf. In his confusion to spit out the foul tasting land, the Airdramon missed his three targets and their digimon slip into the cover of the trees, and begin their trek again towards the digiport under the cover of the forest.

"That was _very_ close," Izzy stated, after finally catching his breath.

"Closer than it should have been," Tai confirmed, deep in thought. "Tell me, how does a single Airdramon have so much power over three ultimates?"

Izzy just shrugged, equally puzzled by Tai's question, and Kari staved off a shiver. The Airdramon's eyes had gotten to her; the red glow bringing back a memory long buried with her parents. They continued to travel through the forest toward the digiport, wary of meeting anymore home dwellers of the digital world, and were each delighted at the regaining of consciousness by each of their digimon along the way. As the digiport they'd used to enter that morning came into view, so did a cloaked figure standing next to it.

"Great," Tai sighed, recognizing the entity immediately. "What does _he_ want?"

"Hello to you too, Tai," said the figure, taking his hood off. A man in his mid-twenties with brown hair was revealed, offering a half smile to the group of teenagers in front of him.

"What do you want, Gennai?" asked Izzy, anxious to get back home.

"Only to help," he divulged, taking a step towards them. The three teens immediately stepped back, Kari taking cover behind her brother and his digimon.

"You stay away!" yelled Tai, balling his fists in anger. "The last time you helped us, Kari spent a week in the hospital. We don't need your help."

"Relax, Tai," Gennai coaxed. "I just want to offer to take care of your digimon until you return. You know you can't take them with you, and it's much too dangerous to leave them on their own so shortly after losing a battle."

"Drop dead," Tai hissed, hate burning in his eyes. Gennai sighed, knowing he would never convince the brown haired barer of Courage. He glanced over to the barer of Knowledge and saw a similar reaction. His final gaze was to Light, the frail being that was standing behind her brother, staring at her partner sadly.

"Tell me, Kari," he tried, "will you let your Gatomon stay out in the open and unprotected?"

"Don't you talk to her!" Tai hollered as Agumon took stance in between them, ready to fight.

"Go with him," Kari said quietly, staring down at Gatomon.

"What?" Tai questioned, shocked.

"He's right, we can't take them with us, and we can't afford to leave them alone. Just go with him," she told Gatomon.

"Kari, are you sure?" Izzy asked as Tentomon hopped out of his arms. She didn't reply, just moved in front of the digiport and held out her digivice. Tai and Izzy reluctantly followed her, each taking hold of her arm tightly, and prepared themselves for the ride home.

"Digiport, home!" she yelled, and was engulfed by a blinding white light.

-----------------------------------------------

"There it was again," a girl with purple hair and glasses revealed, pointing at her computer screen. "That's the second time today, and the eighth time this week."

"What is it?" asked a blond boy with blue eyes, coming up next to her.

"I know how weird this is going to sound, but it looks like the signature of a digiport being used."

"But I thought you said that they were inaccessible now," reminded another boy with brown hair that had glints of red. He came up behind her and leaned against the blond boy. "Or is this your infamous 'woman's intuition?'"

"Knock it off, Daisuke," pleaded Takeru. "Can you tell where these ports are being activated?"

"In the digital world, yes," she continued, giving Daisuke a final glare before turning back to the screen. "In the real world, who knows?"

"Can you try?" Takeru asked, leaning down beside her.

"Already on it," she declared, typing furiously at the computer.

-----------------------------------------------

"It's great to be home," Tai stated, walking into their apartment. Kari was silent behind him, still mulling over their day in the digital world. He began stripping away his clothes immediately, letting them fall wherever he happened to be walking on his way to the shower. Kari closed, locked, chained, and dead bolted the door before turning around to the mess her brother had left her.

"I swear, Taichi," she muttered under her breath. "Anyone but you…"

The phone ringing cut her off, startling her a little as it always did, seeing as the only person who had access to their number was Izzy, and he tended to avoid phones when he could. She recovered by the second ring, and moved to answer it.

"What?" she answered, deliberately not saying hello. She and her brother had decided this as a safety, seeing as anyone else but Izzy would think they'd dialed a wrong number.

"Kari." It was Izzy. "Where's Tai?"

"In the shower. What's wrong?"

"Someone's trying to track us," Izzy disclosed, typing in a flurry at his computer as he held the phone to his ear with his shoulder. "I'm dropping my virus programs, but they're being persistent. I may have to crash the system if they don't give up."

"Who could be tracking us?" Kari mused, anxious at the thought of being chased again. Last time someone had gone looking for them, it had nearly cost them their lives.

"Don't know," Izzy murmured, frowning at his computer screen. "I need to work on this, but I'll keep you posted."

Kari hung up the phone without a goodbye, worry filling her heart as she contemplated who could be after them again. She and her brother had been so thorough in fixing their lives to how they lived them now, checking every minor detail, down to the name signed on the lease of their apartment. It was absolutely terrifying to think that someone had could have found them again, and was may to try to separate them again.

"What's wrong?" Tai queried, seeing his sister's frightened face.

"Someone's tracking us again," she told him, but an elaboration on the statement was cut short by the phone ringing again. Tai answered it, and by the looks of it, Izzy was filling him in further. Kari watched her brother speak one word answers into the phone for five minutes before he hung up.

"He had to crash the system," Tai reiterated for her, sitting down next to her on the couch. "His viruses were shot down at every turn, and the hacker was gaining the upper hand."

"Did they get anything?" Kari asked.

"Izzy doesn't think so," Tai sighed. "But we won't know for sure unless we come home one day to a slashed apartment."

"That's not funny, Tai," Kari glared, remembering the last apartment they'd had. Three years ago, they'd both been under eighteen and orphaned, but through several part time jobs and a borrowed name on a lease, they had shared a nice two bedroom apartment with the last of their meager possessions.

After returning home from the digital world one evening with Izzy and a neighbor, another 'Chosen,' they discovered the entire apartment thrashed. Everything had been torn apart or gutted, a fire set forth in one of the bedrooms, and spray paint covering the walls saying, 'No Freaks Left Alive.'

"I know," Tai remembered. "We've both got to work tonight, so let's just stop worrying and get ready to go, okay?"

"Okay," Kari agreed, then headed off to take her turn in the bathroom.

-----------------------------------------------

"Did you get it?" Daisuke pestered.

"Yes and no," answered Miyako, printing and shutting down her computer. "I got the general area that the port sent the traveler to, but the user crashed the system before I could get anymore info."

"So, where is it?" Takeru asked.

"It's right here in Odaiba, actually," Miyako revealed, pulling up the map of the city she'd printed. "Not far from Dai's apartment. Care for the honors?"

"Aw, I was going to hit Club Firewalker tonight," Daisuke pouted.

"And just what were you going to do there?" asked Takeru, raising an eyebrow.

"Just scope some eye candy. There's this really hot brunette there…"

"It's always overcrowded there," Takeru argued. "No room to breathe."

"Trust me," Daisuke said. "It's worth the lack of air."

"Suit yourself," stated Takeru, grabbing his jacket and heading out the door. "I'm going to Club Challenger."

-----------------------------------------------

"Hey! Pretty girlie! Take a well deserved break and dance with me!"

Kari rolled her eyes at the idiot male, victim of a bachelor party that'd seen one too many drinks, about ten drinks ago. "I don't get breaks."

"How 'bout I talk to your manager there," he slurred, pointing to the bartender, "and see if I can't talk him into it. After all, this is the last night I'm going to be a free man."

"If you were a free man, you wouldn't be getting married tomorrow," Kari told him, still ignoring his request. He man apparently didn't hear though, and walked over to the bartender to plead his case. A few minutes later, Markus, the bartender, came over to her.

"I know you said no, but the guy is shelling out money like it's no object," he reasoned. Markus was the guy who had hired her and her brother two and a half years ago, even though he knew that Tai had only been sixteen and Kari barely thirteen. His was the name that was borrowed on the lease of their current apartment, and knew their money plight all too well.

"How much and for what?" she asked, monotoned.

"Fifty a dance. I'll put a limit on five dances."

"Tell him a hundred per dance, and I don't want any of his scuzzy friends all over me," she bartered, glaring over to the table of fifteen drunks that were singing along to a dance song that repeated one phrase over and over.

"I'll see what I can do," Markus affirmed. Kari went off to make another round to the inebriated males, guarding her body to their appreciative strokes. She returned to the bar in a foul mood, and saw that Markus was running a credit card through for the amount of five hundred dollars.

"Come on sweetie," the bachelor slurred, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her towards the dance floor. "Our dance starts now."

Kari allowed herself to be dragged to the dance floor, shooting a look of annoyance to her brother in the 'music box.' His attention turned to a phone that was ringing, and his features took on a look of understanding as Markus filled him in from the bar phone, and he programmed the next five songs to be the shortest one's the club had. Kari danced with a fake smile plastered on her face, being sure to keep herself just out of reach for him to grab hold of anything…valuable. As the fifth song ended, Kari was smirking at the thought of making five hundred dollars in less than fifteen minutes.

"Have a great wedding tomorrow," she called over her shoulder, heading back over to the bar. A firm hand caught her wrist and pulled her backwards.

"Just one more for the road," the bachelor slurred, burying his face in the back of her shirt.

"Let go," Kari struggled, yanking her arm.

"Don't be stingy," he argued, spinning her around to face him. "Not for five hundred dollars."

"You knew the deal when you agreed to it," she reminded him, still trying to break his grasp.

"I better get more than just a few short dances for five hundred dollars," he told her, pulling her body against his and leaning in to kiss her. Kari squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the nasty taste of beer to meet her lips, but it never came.

"How about you just stop before you do something stupid," suggested a voice from behind him, connected to the arms that had him in a head lock.


	2. 2

A/N: More revisions. Let me know if I miss anything.

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter Two**

Kari opened her eyes to see a red-brown haired teen about her age holding the intoxicated man back in a headlock. He noticed her gaze and shot a wide grin at her, easily dominating the 'fight.'

"How about you apologize to this lovely young lady," he suggested to the drunk, flexing his arms for good measure.

"Stay out of this, asshole," was the response.

Kari noticed the club's bouncers heading their way, and decided to make a quick escape. She moved in between the drunk and her rescuer, giving the bachelor's pants a hard tug down to his knees, then grabbed the brown haired boy and ran. The boy didn't argue, too busy laughing at the bachelor's predicament of being thrown in the spotlight after being de-pantsed, and she led him up the employee stairs to the music box.

"That was priceless," he declared as they entered the room.

"That was exactly what he deserved," Tai affirmed, pulling his sister into a proud hug. He then turned to the young man that had 'saved' his sister and extended a hand. "Thanks, man."

"Hey sure!" the young man energetically said. "My name's Daisuke."

"I'm Tai, and this is my sister Kari," Tai introduced, shaking the over-enthusiastic boy's hand. "She owes you a drink, and I owe you a song."

"What song do you want to hear?" Kari asked.

"Um," Daisuke stumbled, having been put on the spot. "Anything by Daft Punk."

"Sure," Tai agreed, heading to the wall of CDs. "In the meantime, Kari will fix you up with whatever you want at the bar, on the house."

Kari led Daisuke back down to the bar area, pleasantly noting that the bachelor and all of his co-conspirators had been escorted from the premises. Markus was more than happy to give the young man a Kamikaze, despite his young age, and offered to give him a season pass to all of their big events. Daisuke politely turned him down, though, saying that he hadn't done so much to deserve it all.

"Hey, Daisuke," Kari said, pulling his arm. "Your song's playing."

"Come dance with me," he insisted, leading her out to the dance floor. The two teens danced through the entire song, each pleasantly surprised at the others talent. Half way through they began to goof off, and were laughing hysterically by the time the song ended. They staggered back up to the bar, still not recovered from their bout with the giggles, and Daisuke spent the rest of the night getting to know his new friend.

"Wow," he said, glancing at his watch a few hours later. "I didn't think that it was that late."

"You can stick around a little while longer if you don't feel like swimming through the mosh-pit to get out," Kari said, cleaning the last of her tables.

"I really should get home," he said, rising to leave.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

"Kishi Apartments."

"Really? No way. I live two blocks from there at Arimori Apartments."

"Well, maybe I will stay then," Daisuke decided, not really in the mood to walk home alone. Kari finished counting up her tips as Tai came down to meet them, delighted at the idea of walking home with their new friend. Markus fished out five hundred dollars from the cash register and handed it to Tai, after which the three teens took their leave.

"So, Kari," Daisuke began as they exited the club. "If I live so close to you, then why haven't I seen you at school before?"

"I have a home tutor," she told him, making a small glance at Tai. "I work all week and get tutored on the weekends."

"Too bad," Daisuke sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You're a great person to hang around, and I wanted to introduce you to my friends. I like hanging out with you."

"What am I?" Tai asked, feigning self pity. "Chopped liver?"

"Don't get me wrong, Tai," he smiled. "I just thought you'd be busy with college and stuff."

"I don't go to college," Tai stated quietly. "I work. A lot."

"Hey, Daisuke," Kari said, standing at the corner ahead of them.

"Yeah?" Daisuke responded, wary of her tone of voice.

"You said you live at Kishi Apartments?" she asked, ignoring the correction.

"Yeah, why?" he asked, but got a visual answer instead. His apartment building entrance was currently being used by a bunch of drunk hoodlums, punching each other for fun. "Oh, crap."

"You wanna…stay at our house?" Kari suggested, earning a nudge from her brother, which she ignored.

"I think that would be a great idea," he agreed, allowing Kari to lead him down the block. They reached the apartment building and headed for their home, no one really in the mood to talk anymore. Once inside, Tai headed for the closet to collect sleeping items for the couch.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kari asked, having watched him for the rest of the journey to the apartment. He nodded, still looking far away. "Those guys have met up with you before, haven't they?"

Daisuke finally looked up, looking surprised at her question. "Yes, they have. How could you tell?"

"The way you looked when you saw them. It's the look of someone who's been tortured for just being born," she stated, giving him a small hug before saying goodnight. Tai gave a helter skelter tour of the apartment before turning in himself, leaving Daisuke with his own thoughts.

He was greatly appreciative for Tai and Kari letting him stay the night, even though he still didn't know their last name. What was bothering him was that Kari had read his expression so easily, even though he'd tried to hide his emotions when he'd seen the drunken gang. What outright disturbed him was the comment she'd made about being tortured just for being born. It was almost as if she knew how it felt to be a Chosen, with everyone blaming you for the digimon attacks that took out half of Tokyo.

_"Lookout!"_ _Daisuke yelled to the crowd of children his age. They were huddled under a huge cherry blossom tree for protection, but if they didn't move soon, the tree was going to end up their destruction. _

_"I'll get 'em!" declared Ex-Veemon, flying as fast as he could on his two silvery wings to the frightened children. The Mammothmon nearly beat him there, though, with the miniature earthquakes caused by his walking taking all of the children to their knees._

_"Hurry up!" cried Miyako, flying high above all of them on the back of Aquilamon. She was directing the bird-like digimon in his attacks against Phantomon and his army, with Takeru doing the same with Angemon from the ground. "We could really use some backup!"_

_"I'm working on it!" Daisuke yelled back, pulling children to their feet and directing them to the nearest safe area. Not like there was one for miles, though._

_"Did someone ask for backup?" asked a boy that resembled Takeru, yet a few years his senior. He was perched upon a Garurumon, and entered the fight without an answer._

_"About time!" Miyako yelled. "Even though we've done most of the work."_

_"It looks like we're beginning to take the upper hand," Takeru observed, looking around. Just then, a bright, white light erupted from the center of the city, followed a few seconds later by a sonic boom._

_"What was that?" Daisuke mused aloud, just before the cloud of debris hit them. When it cleared, ruins was all that stood as far as the eye could see._

_"What happened?" Takeru asked, looking around in awe._

_"This is your fault!" someone cried, pointing their finger accusingly at the Chosen and their partners. Soon, others joined the chorus._

Daisuke sighed at the memory, then took out his digivice from his pocket, wondering how his partner Veemon was doing without him. It had been about six months since the digiports had closed off to all destined, sealing away a part of his life that had permanently branded him an outcast to all that had ever seen him with a digimon, but he still missed him.

-----------------------------------------------

Kari lay down in her bed, sighing at the long day she'd just experienced, and buried her head in her pillow. The digiworld had been bad enough, plus being tracked by someone, but the guy at the bar just had to go and make it worse. It was lucky for her that Daisuke had been there, or something _real_ bad could have happened.

"What a disastrous day," she mumbled into her pillow. Her mind drifted back to the events in the digital world, still puzzled at how a simple visit with old friends could have turned so foul. They had just been sitting in a field talking about 'old times,' before the destruction of Tokyo, when the Airdramon appeared. Something in the way the digimon's eyes glowed red just bothered her, raising an involuntary shiver, even with her covers pulled up to her chin. Slowly, sleep crept upon her.

_"Pathetic humans," the huge vampire-like digimon hissed. "Do you really think you can stop me?" _

_"We'll die trying!" Tai yelled up at him ferociously, even though MetalGreymon was quickly losing strength. Angewoman and Mega-Kabuterimon were in a similar predicament._

_"That's perfectly fine with me," the digimon roared, clutching together the sides of his cape, then thrusting them apart as he yelled, "Grisly Wing!"_

_"Lookout!" Izzy yelled, jumping out of the path of the dive bombing bats. The three ultimate digimon, despite their weakened states, raced to intercept the attack before it could reach the entrance of the subway station, where a majority of the street side people had taken refuge. With cries of infinite pain, all three digimon were cast back to their rookie stages, barely conscious._

_"What will you do now, children?" the digimon above them hissed._

_"I told you once before, Myotismon!" Tai shouted, his goggles wrapped around his untamable hair glinting against the fires of the buildings that surrounded the small group. "Fight you until we die!"_

_"Tai, don't!" Kari yelled, but the damage was done. Myotismon discharged his fierce attack at the goggle-headed boy. Agumon made several attempts to get up and rush over to his partner, but the sting of the bats proved to be too much for him._

_"No!" she cried out again, this time her entire body began to glow, as she was levitated off the ground a few inches._

_"Tai, here I come!" Agumon yelled, glowing the same color as Kari. "Agumon, warp digivolve to…WarGreymon!"_

_"Who is that?" Tai asked as a huge digimon shielded him from the attack that would have claimed his life._

_"It's me, Tai," the huge digimon said. "Agumon at the mega level."_

_"No way," Tai murmured, shaking his head. He looked around and saw the state of his sister, then bolted over to her. "Kari! What's happening to you?"_

_"You think you can win?" Myotismon snarled._

_"I think I have a fair shot," WarGreymon surmised, then raised his attack. "Terra Force!"_

_"Kari, say something!" Tai yelled over the sound of Myotismon's cry of defeat._

_She mumbled incomprehensively as the glow around her spread to encompass everyone in the vicinity. As the light died down, Tai looked up at the damage around him. It looked like ground zero of a bomb's impact beneath his feet. Slowly, other people emerged from their hiding spaces, also awestruck at the destruction._

_"You did this!" they shouted. "You destroyed our homes!"_

A tear rolled down Kari's cheek as she slept. She rolled over, mumbling in her sleep.

"I'm sorry…"

-----------------------------------------------

The next thing that Daisuke knew, a loud pounding had commenced on the door. His eyes shot open to view the bright balcony, momentarily disoriented at where his bed had gone before remembering the previous night's events. He quickly stashed the digivice still in his hand back into his pocket, praying that when Kari whizzed by him to the door that she'd missed it.

"Who is it?" she called out from behind the door.

"We're looking for someone," stated a man's voice, instantly recognized by Daisuke.

"So?" Kari yelled back, still not moving.

"Look, we know he's in there, so just open the door," the man argued, jiggling the door handle.

"Would you stop being a delinquent," insisted another voice, also recognized by Daisuke.

"I know them," Daisuke revealed, coming up beside Kari, taking note that she seemed to be quite rattled. "It's okay."

"If you say so," she relented, unlocking the door and pulling it open. Two teens with blond hair and blue eyes met her, staring at her dumbfounded.

"We're looking for Daisuke Motomiya," the younger blond stated, the non-delinquent.

"It's good to be wanted," Daisuke joked, flashing a smirk.

"So this is where you've been all night, ass," growled the older blond, charging through the door and lifting Daisuke off the ground by his shirt. "Do you know that your parents have an appointment to put your picture on a milk carton this afternoon?"

"Yamato, calm down," persuaded the younger blond, shaking his head in shame. "You are such a hot head."

"Yeah, well then next time, make sure his parents don't call us at three in the morning because they can't find him, Takeru," Yamato insisted, glaring at Daisuke.

"Sorry, Yama, just let me explain," Daisuke tried, but Yamato cut him off.

"Look, I don't need you to explain to me some bullshit story when it's obvious that you just went out to get laid and didn't bother to call anyone," he yelled.

"Yamato, shut up!" Takeru yelled, watching the light brown haired girl walk back into the livingroom and place her head in her hands. "Quit being an ass and use manners!"

Yamato looked from his brother to the girl sitting on the couch and instantly felt horrible. He none too gently dropped Daisuke and moved over to the couch to apologize. "I'm really sorry, miss."

"It's okay," she said quietly. "But you're right, he needs to get home to his parents, so if you have everything, I'll close the door behind you."

Daisuke was now the one glaring as he followed Yamato out he door, turning back to say goodbye to Kari. "Listen, thanks for letting me stay the night."

"No problem," she smiled. "Maybe I'll see you at the club again some time."

"Actually," he started, beginning to fidget, "I was serious when I said I wanted you to meet my friends…the non-psychotic ones. Are you free this afternoon?"

"Um, I have a tutor lesson today," she revealed, watching his face fall. "But if I make tomorrow a long day I can come out."

"Great," he said, smiling again. "Come to the park around three today, okay?"

"Sure," she told his retreating figure, then closed the door.

"What was all that about?" Tai asked, yawning.

"I have a date this afternoon," she grinned, heading to the kitchen.

"With him?" Tai asked, scratching his head. "That was quick."

"What," Kari laughed. "I can't help being cute."

"I wouldn't exactly call you cute," Tai kidded. "More like a trouble magnet."

"Be nice to me, big brother," Kari said, in full seriousness. "Or I will stop cooking your meals."

"I should be so lucky."

-----------------------------------------------

"What was that all about?" Yamato asked, waiting by the elevator.

"I asked her to come to the park with us this afternoon," Daisuke told them, shrugging it off.

"You're serious?" Yamato asked. "You actually asked out a girl, and she said yes."

"Screw you," Daisuke glared. "She's a really nice girl. You'd see that if you weren't too busy insulting her."

"Hey, I apologized to her. And just why didn't you go home last night?" Yamato asked.

"The Dragons were lingering in front of the apartments again," Daisuke murmered, bringing forth a silence for the rest of the trip to his house. After giving his parents his excuse for not coming home, and then apologizing for twenty minutes straight about not calling, the three guys were out the door again heading to Miyako's house.

"So, Dai," Miyako started as they entered. "I heard you went missing last night. Why'd you come back?"

"Kiss it Me-A-Cow," Daisuke kidded, deliberately mispronouncing her name. "For your information, I spent the night with a girl."

Whatever rebuttal Miyako had for Daisuke messing up her name was shot straight from her mind after that statement. She stood there slack jawed for a good minute before speaking again. "For real?"

"No, not in the way you're thinking," Yamato revealed, flopping down on her bed.

"Wow. I thought for a minute there that he'd been serious about checking out a brunette at Club Firewalker."

"Well, the girl was a brunette," Yamato offered.

"Shuddup, Ishida," Daisuke said, then turned to Miyako. "Your map did me no good last night because it's right I the middle of four apartment buildings. Anyone could have done it."

"It was the best I had," she sighed. "All we can do now is wait for them to use the ports again, and that probably won't happen again for a long while since this person already knows we're looking for them…unless they're real stupid."

"We can always hope," Yamato said, then looked over to his silent brother. "Right, kid?"

"Dai," Takeru started, ignoring his brother. "Why'd you invite that girl to the park when you knew we were having a meeting?"

"What girl?" Miyako asked.

"I told her three o'clock," Daisuke reminded him. "The meeting should be finished by then."

"Yes," Takeru nodded, growing a worried look. "But what if she's early?"

-----------------------------------------------

"Izzy, I promise I'll study twice as long tomorrow," Kari begged.

"Why do you want to go meet this kid's friends?" Izzy asked, still wary of any outsiders learning their secrets.

"Come on, Izzy," she pleaded. "Just this once."

"Fine," he relented, and watched her bolt out the door. "But you're not going alone."

With that, Izzy packed up his things and followed her out.

-----------------------------------------------

Kari ran through the sidewalks full of people at top speed, desperate to not be late. She saw the park come into view and slowed down, trying to catch her breath. She entered the park with only a minute to spare, and began her visual scan of the people for her new friend. She found him surrounded by a group of people, none of which looked to her to be any of his friends. As she made her approach, she caught some of the conversation that transpired.

"Look, punk," said one of the guys in front. "We don't want freaks like you in our neighborhood, or our park for that matter, and you just don't seem to be listening."

"You guys have me mistaken for someone else," Daisuke suggested. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Listen, gay boy," said another, who grabbed him by his clothes and lifted him up. "Don't try fooling us, because we can tell."

Kari physically stopped when her eyes caught sight of an odd shaped box with a small screen clipped to his belt, formally hidden by the length of his shirt. Daisuke finally saw her, then noticed where she was staring, and mentally swore. He was sure she'd hate him now. She'd seen his digivice.

Kari shook herself from her trance, then continued her trek to Daisuke. She pushed her way past a couple of puzzled males, finally coming to the center of the group.

"Excuse me," she said, lightly pushing on the thug suspending him in the air until he put Daisuke down and let go of him. Once he had, Kari grabbed hold of the back of Daisuke's neck, smirked at him, then pulled him down into a deep kiss.


	3. 3

A/N: Revisement of chapter 3 completed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Three**

Kari let go of Daisuke's neck, allowing the stunned male to pull away. He blinked at her a couple of times, then looked around the group before him. They all stared back, unable to even speak, so Kari did it for them.

"Thanks for finding my boyfriend," she told the thug that formally had the hold on him. "I've been looking everywhere for him since he missed our lunch date, and now I know you guys were the ones holding him up, and not _some other girl_."

Upon her last three words, she let an icy glare linger on Daisuke for a moment, then turned away from him with her arms crossed. Daisuke finally caught on and played into his role.

"Come on, Kari," he whined, taking a step to her and extending a hand. "You know I wouldn't do that to you…again."

"Again?" she screamed as she turned on him. "What do you mean, again?"

"Oops, gotta go!" Daisuke yelled, taking off through the crowd of punks that had earlier surrounded him, but were all now laughing themselves silly at their former target being chased out of the park by a rabid girlfriend. From the tree line, several faces that had been watching the interaction all looked back and forth to one another before following the two teens out of the park.

-----------------------------------------------

Daisuke ran the length of the block before stopping to catch his breath, rerunning the events in the park in his head, entirely confused. He had been sure she'd seen his digivice, and would have taken off in the opposite direction, but instead she'd come to his aid. He was so deep in his thoughts that he never even noticed Kari catch up with him until she leaned on his shoulder for support as she laughed.

"That was great," she giggled. "Did you see their faces?"

"Yeah, priceless," Daisuke agreed. "Thanks for saving my ass."

"Hey," she said, composing herself to look him straight in the eyes. "You helped me last night, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't do everything in my power to help a friend?"

"Right," Daisuke said, walking again. "Let's go to my apartment, seeing as you'll have to beat the snot out of me if we want to go back to the park."

"Sure," she said, falling in step. "Oh, and I'm also sorry about catching you off guard with that kiss. It was the only thing I could think of."

"No biggie," Daisuke said, waving it off. "It's not like I've never been kissed before."

"I'm sure you have," she said, looking at him from the side of her eyes. "But I doubt those guys would ever believe that you've kissed a girl, right?"

Daisuke stopped mid step, causing the people walking behind him to collide with him, cursing him as they passed. Daisuke just stood there staring at her. And then it hit him: she hadn't seen his digivice, she'd heard what the Dragons had said about him being gay. "Right."

"That's okay," she said, linking her arm in his and pulling him into walking again. "You kiss better than most guys I know, so you can't be that bad."

They laughed again, then continued their way to Daisuke's apartment, oblivious of being followed from a distance all the way to the apartment.

"I'm starved," Daisuke said as soon as he walked in, dropping shoes and clothes everywhere.

"Humph," Kari said, watching. "I guess it's not just my brother."

"What?" Daisuke asked, half muffled by the refrigerator door and the apple in his mouth.

'Boys will be boys,' she thought, following him to the kitchen. "Do you live here by yourself?"

"Nah," he told her, still munching his apple. "I live with my parents and sister…sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well," he began, flopping down on the couch. "My sister is old enough to be out on her own, but she has no common sense when living by herself, and when she gets a new apartment every other month, she maxes out her credit cards. When she can't pay rent she comes back here until she can pay the cards off."

"Whatever," she shrugged. "Got any cookies around here?"

"Yep," he revealed pointing towards the pantry in the kitchen as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!"

"You are such a goof," Kari laughed. Daisuke laughed too as he opened the door, but was met with a fist that stopped him in an instant.

"Ow," he groaned, rubbing his cheek as he picked himself off the floor. "What was that for?"

"Just what were you thinking?" was the reply right before another punch landed in his stomach. "You know better than to smart off to those idiots."

"Daisuke, what's going on?" Kari asked, coming out of the kitchen.

"And you!" the enraged male said, pointing at her. "You made things worse! You just had to go make a big scene in front of them. Now they'll never leave him alone!"

The boy lunged at her, his face red with anger that totally contrasted his blond hair. Kari stepped back into the counter, realizing she had nowhere to go, then prepared for impact. His hands took hold of her arms as his body forced hers painfully back into the counter and blocked her there.

"I don't understand," she whispered, her eyes clenched shut.

"Those idiots only bother him because he's dumb enough to stand out," the boy yelled. "And you waltz up and cause an even bigger scene to make him stand out even more. Those idiots know where he lives and probably would enjoy another reason to torture him."

"Takeru, she didn't do anything!" Daisuke shouted, coming up behind him to loosen the grip he had on the girl. Daisuke finally succeeded, yanking Takeru's arms down to his sides roughly, causing them to knock a small object from its perch on her belt. Because of the loud clatter, Kari opened her eyes and looked down to the floor in horror at her digivice.

"What the…" Takeru mumbled, staring uncomprehendingly at the object on the floor. The rest of his statement was not finished in time because Kari immediately reached down and snatched the pink digivice and bolted out the door.

"Nice going, hot head!" Daisuke yelled, punching him in the arm before taking after the girl. Kari ran past the group of four teens exiting the elevator and jabbed the down button furiously until the door closed, panting through her tears.

"Aw, damn," Yamato sighed, watching her go. "What'd he do now?"

"Do me a favor, Yama," Daisuke pleaded as he made for the stairs, "and beat the hell out of your brother."

"Should we even ask?" asked Miyako.

"No," Yamato decided, walking into the apartment. The dazed form of his brother met him. "Are you ready for your beating?"

"I'm so stupid," Takeru muttered, walking over to the wall and beating his forehead against it.

"Wow," Yamato stated, watching him. "Almost takes the fun out of it."

"Don't you think you should stop him?" asked a red headed girl close to her twenties.

"Relax, Sora," he reasoned. "That's what Jyou's for."

"Thanks a lot," said a young man in his twenties with dark navy hair. "Hey, Takeru, you better knock it off or you'll end up like your brother."

"Hey!" Yamato protested.

"I can't believe how stupid I am," Takeru groaned, leaning against the wall. "I frightened the poor girl to death. I'm such a hot head! I gotta go find her and apologize."

"Hold it," Miyako intervened, moving between him and the door. "You're going to do more harm than good if you go find her."

"You guys don't understand!" Takeru yelled. "I scared her off! She's one of us!"

"What do you mean?" asked Sora.

"A Chosen," Takeru told them, pushing his way out the door.

-----------------------------------------------

"Kari, just wait a minute!" Daisuke yelled from behind her. Kari just ignored him and kept running, her mind inoperative on how to escape the situation with out confronting him. She saw the library up ahead and ran to it, bursting through the doors and heading for the nearest isle of books. Daisuke entered loudly a few seconds later, and Kari took the opportunity to sneak to the back of the building as he was scolded by the desk librarian.

She found a lone computer far in the back and hidden by many shelves of books, thanking whoever had been watching out for her for not choosing that part of her day for a nap. She stepped up to the computer and punched in the port codes, very aware of a young man whispering her name a few isles away. She took one last glance of her surroundings to make sure no one was within eyeshot, and held her digivice up to the computer.

"Digiport, open," she whispered, then was sucked into the computer by a bright light.

"No way," Daisuke whispered in wonderment, watching her go. "_She's_ the one activating the ports?"

-----------------------------------------------

Kari landed roughly on her butt as the small TV spit her out into a snow field. She glanced up quickly and through her shivers assessed her surroundings before she got up fully, trying to determine where she was. She nearly jumped three feet when someone spoke from behind.

"Hi," a voice said. Kari whirled around to see a gabumon looking at her, his head cocked to the side. "Haven't seen you around before."

"I usually try to stay where it's warm," Kari managed through her chattering teeth, clutching her arm around her for what little warmth it would offer.

"No place like that for miles," said another voice behind her, again scaring her. She barely made out a gomamon through the blizzard that had become her surroundings.

"How many miles?" she asked.

"A lot," the gabumon told her, approaching. His head cocked to the side again when Kari backed up defensively. "Look, I'll take you to a warm place. I won't hurt you."

"Don't take it personally, but I've met my share of digimon that have said the same things," Kari informed him.

"You are obviously here because you have a digimon partner," the gabumon reasoned. "I have a human partner. His name is Matt. I promise on my oath to protect him that I won't hurt you."

"Okay," Kari reluctantly relented, too cold to argue any further. She followed the two rookies to a small cave concealed by the shadow of a huge tower atop of the snow drift, pleasantly noting there seemed to be a fire going in it.

"It ain't much," the gomamon started, but Kari cut him off.

"It's wonderful," she gushed, sitting down right in front of the fire, thawing. Soon, her eyes were drooping. A small beep from her pocket stirred her before she could completely submit herself to Lala Land, and she retrieved her mini-computer from her pocket, noting she had email.

It read:

—Where the hell are you?  
Izzy—

She responded:

—In the digital world.  
Kari—

He wrote back:

—_Where_ in the digital world? —

She wrote:

—Somewhere _very_ cold that has  
gabumon and gomamon. —

He finished:

—You're lucky I know where you  
are. Next time I email you, I'll  
have your brother's computer  
hooked up so you can port home.  
Sit tight until then.  
Izzy—

Kari closed her mini-computer and gazed up at her two digimon companions that were now staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"How is it that you can come to the digital world, and no one else can?" asked the gabumon.

"I'm not really sure," she began, fishing around in her pocket. She pulled out her digivice and showed it to them. "But my friend Izzy says it's because my digivice morphed into this after the battle with Myotismon."

"You…have a D3," whispered the gabumon, backing up.

"A what?" Kari asked, puzzled by their reaction.

"You're one of them," hissed the gomamon, accusingly. "Let's get out of here, Gabumon."

"One of who?" Kari questioned, confused.

"An accomplice to the Dark One," Gabumon stated. "Only he has a digivice like that."

"You mean there's someone else out there that has a digivice exactly like mine?" Kari asked, shocked.

"Not exactly," Gabumon said. "His is black, right Gomamon?"

"Other than that, exactly the same," Gomamon said. "You must work for him."

"I don't work for anyone in the digital world," Kari assured them. "What's this guy like?"

"You don't know?" asked Gabumon. "He's the most cruel person I've ever seen. He enslaves digimon with black collars just to watch them fight each other. He's evil."

"He uses collars to control them?" Kari asked, horrified. "He hurts them?"

"Yes, and he builds towers so no one under his control has any chance of being freed," Gomamon continued. "Towers like the one above this cave."

"I can't believe someone could be so cruel," Kari whispered. A beep came from her pocket, signaling her time to leave. "Listen, guys. I have to go, but I promise to come back later, probably tomorrow, with my brother and Izzy, and we'll get this Dark Person thing figured out."

"You can bring others with you?" Gabumon asked. "Can you bring my partner?"

"And mine?" asked Gomamon.

"I guess I can, if you give me there names," Kari shrugged.

"Mine partner is Matt Ishida," Gabumon told her, watching the girl type the name into her mini-computer, then repeat the process for Gomamon.

"I'll see you guys soon," Kari promised, raising her digivice to the TV. "Digiport, home!"

Kari fell into her brother's lap, relishing the warmth he radiated after falling out of the computer. She ignored the rants he made about her going into the digital world alone and not telling him about meeting a friend in the park, only paying attention when Daisuke's name came up.

"He was here?" she asked. "What'd he want?"

"I don't know," Tai revealed. "Izzy wouldn't let me open the door and find out."

"He was chasing her," Izzy reasoned, covering the port tracks on the computer.

"We have a big problem," Kari told them, looking down at the floor. "And it may involve Daisuke eventually."

"Why?" Tai asked. "What'd he do?"

"No, Daisuke's not the problem," Kari said.

"What could be worse than that kid?" Izzy asked.

"There's big trouble in the digital world," she stated, beginning her epic tail.

-----------------------------------------------

The next day, Kari stood in front of the door that housed the last Ishida in the phone book. They had been to several apartments earlier that day looking for this 'Matt' person and had so far come up empty. At the last stop, her brother and Izzy stood behind her, glancing around warily. Kari bit back her urge to just forget the whole thing and go without the partners of the two digimon, and knocked on the door.

"I hope we don't regret this," Tai muttered.

"Me too," Kari agreed quietly. A voice yelled his coming, and the door opened to reveal a sleepy blond boy with blue eyes scratching his head. Kari's eyes widened as far as they could go as an intense fear rose in her stomach. "It's you."

"It's you," Takeru stated in unison with Kari, staring just as wide eyed at her as she was him.


	4. 4

A/N: Continutation of revisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Four**

Kari tried to bolt, but Takeru caught hold of her too quickly, detaining the unhappy female for the moment. The next moment, he met her brother's fist.

"Keep your hands off my sister!" he yelled, pinning the boy between him and the door.

"Please, just don't run away again," Takeru pleaded to the brown haired girl.

"You're Matt Ishida?" the red head asked, staring.

"No, I am," someone said from inside right before he tackled Tai. To Izzy, it looked like the exact same person Tai had attacked, only about four years older. "Keep _your_ hands off _my_ brother."

"Will everyone just calm down!" Takeru half yelled, trying to pull everyone into the apartment and away from the prying eyes of the neighbors. "Please, come inside!"

"This was a bad idea anyway," Kari insisted, heading for the elevator.

"Takeru, what's going on?" asked a young boy, close to twelve years of age, from two apartments down. He had a bowl shaped hair cut that, along with his short stature, just made him look younger than he already was.

"Nothing, Iori, just a little dispute of who's got the bigger over-protective ego here," Takeru assured him, still pulling the two older boys apart. "Come on, Kari, come inside."

"No, I don't think I should," Kari decided, retreating into the elevator. Takeru rushed past Izzy and Iori just in time to enter the elevator as the doors closed.

"Please, just let me say I'm sorry," Takeru pleaded, watching her back into the corner of the elevator. "Yesterday, I was just upset and not thinking clearly, and I shouldn't have scared you like that. My family is known for their short tempers and violent outbursts."

"I don't care anymore, just leave me alone," Kari implored. "I haven't done anything to you, and I never will, so just leave me, Izzy and my brother alone."

"You act like I'm the one who came knocking at your door this morning," Takeru sighed. "I never intended, nor ever will, to cause harm to you or anyone else."

"I've heard that before," Kari muttered, slipping past him and out the open doors of the ground level of the apartment building.

"Fine, if this is the only way to get you to listen for a minute," Takeru grumbled, taking hold of her arm and pulling her down into the parking garage area of the apartment building, "then this is how it's going to be."

"Let me go," Kari insisted, squirming wildly. Takeru pulled her over into a corner that was out of all view of the public and blocked her in the corner of the wall. Instinctively, Kari squeezed her eyes shut tight, not wanting to know what he was pulling out of his back pocket.

"Just open your eyes and look," Takeru demanded. He watched the girl open one eye cautiously, then open them both wide to stare at his digivice. "See, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just like you."

-----------------------------------------------

"It would be wise for the two of you to break it up before the neighbors call the police," Iori advised, watching the two males continue to pound each other.

"Nice try," Izzy told the boy, "but you have to get them where it really hurts. Guys, if the police come to this so-called domestic disturbance, you're going to have to come up with bail money after they throw you in jail."

The two adolescents paused to think about that last statement, so Izzy continued. "Not to mention, they're going to ask a _lot_ of questions…"

"I need to find my sister," Tai stated, breaking his grasp on the blond.

"Wherever she is, I'll find my brother," Yamato reasoned, glaring.

"I think it's safe to assume they went downstairs," Iori surmised, punching the elevator button. "Where they went after that is anyone's guess."

The elevator dinged its arrival, and all present were surprised to see Kari and Takeru exit. They said nothing as they walked into the apartment, avoiding the gazes of their respective brothers. Left hanging, all followed them into the apartment. They found the two seated on the couch, staring at them as they trudged in.

"We have a problem," Takeru stated as soon as the door had closed.

"That's an understatement," Tai muttered under his breath.

"Be serious, Tai," Kari scolded. "We all have the same problem, I think…"

"What?" Iori asked, staring right back at Kari.

"Yes, we _all_ have the same problem," Takeru affirmed. "Iori's one of us."

"The more the merrier," Kari sighed. "Okay. Everyone tell their name, and who their partner is. I'll go first. My name is Hikari Kamiya, and my partner is Gatomon."

"My name is Takeru Takashi, and my partner is Patamon."

"I feel like I'm in a drug rehab center or something. My name is Taichi Yamagi, and my partner is Agumon."

"My name is Koushiro Izumi, Izzy for short, and my partner is Tentomon."

"My name is Iori, and my partner is Armadillomon," Iori spoke up. "You guys are all Chosen?"

"If you want to call it that," Tai said. "That's the most non-derogatory way I've heard it put."

"Yamato Ishida. Matt is my nickname. The only one allowed to call me that now is my partner."

"Gabumon," Kari guessed.

"How'd you know?" Yamato asked.

"I met him in the digital world yesterday," Kari revealed, reaching into her pocket.

"How? The digital gates have been closed for months."

"This," Kari said, showing off her digivice.

"It's different than ours," Iori observed. "Like it's been upgraded or something."

"In appearance, yes," Izzy agreed. "But other than the ability for Kari to travel through the ports at her own will, it is the same as ours in function."

"And I'm not the only one who has it, apparently," Kari continued. "Gabumon and Gomamon said there's this Dark One, a kid like us, who has a digivice similar to mine and uses it to enslave digimon."

"You're joking," Yamato insisted.

"I wish I was," Kari sighed. "And there's even more good news."

"Then it should wait," Yamato decided. "We need to gather the others and tell them about this."

"Who put you in charge all of a sudden?" Tai asked. "What if we don't want others involved?"

"Then tough," Yamato said, gearing up for another fight.

"Grow up!" Kari yelled at them. "Tai, I love you, but drop your stupid ego and take his advice. We are going to need more than just us for this. And Matt…Sorry, I mean Yamato, please don't get offended so easily. We're never going to get anything done if you're constantly bickering with each other."

"She's right," Takeru agreed, eyeing his brother. "Let's gather the others, then get going on this. We obviously don't have much time if this Dark One can move freely through both worlds like Kari."

-----------------------------------------------

"This better be good, Yamato," Jyou whined as he entered the apartment. "I need to study for a biology exam and a chemistry final."

"This will be worth your time, trust me," Yamato insisted, pushing him into the overcrowded room. By the looks of it, he was the second to last to arrive. Sora, Miyako, and Iori were already there, plus three new people. One he recognized as the girl from the previous day's incident with Daisuke.

"Where is Daisuke?" Jyou asked, looking around.

"I dunno. His parents said he was out early this morning," Takeru informed them. "We could track him down, but we'd end up wasting a lot of time."

"No need," Miyako spoke up, looking at her digivice screen. "He's almost here."

"Yamato, are you sure it's okay that I'm calling Mimi in America?" Sora asked. "This phone call is going to cost an arm and a leg."

"This is more important," Yamato told her, as the doorbell rang. Takeru answered it, and a few moments later, Daisuke emerged, his eyes searching the room rapidly.

"Kari!" he exclaimed when he spotted her. "I've been looking everywhere for you. We really need to talk."

"I know, that's why we're here," Kari agreed. "Okay, let's get the basic questions out of the way. My name is Kari, and this is my brother Tai, and our best friend Izzy. We are all, uh, Chosen I guess. And I'm the one activating the digiports."

"How?" Miyako asked.

"This," Kari said, showing off her digivice. "For whatever reason, after the Tokyo attacks, my digivice morphed in my hand to this shape. The digimon call it a D3. Whatever it is, it has the ability to activate the digiports."

"Is that all?" Jyou asked. "You could have emailed me about all this."

"No it's not all," Kari continued. "You're Jyou, right? Gomamon wanted to see you."

"How'd you…"

"I met him yesterday when he and Gabumon told me about the Dark One. A kid like us who has a digivice like mine that enslaves digimon and tortures them. But if you'd rather study, I'll send your condolences to Gomamon."

"Sorry," Jyou apologized. "I just thought that this was another one of Yama's pointless meetings that go nowhere. I had no idea there was a real problem."

"Neither did we, until yesterday," Izzy revealed. "The solution to our predicament is both simple and complex. The one thing we need to do is to defeat this Dark One and set free his captive digimon, but that is not as easy as it sounds."

"We should get started right away then," declared a voice from the phone speaker. "I will not have Palmon be hunted down by some sick kid who thinks he's an Emperor or something."

"Calm down, Mimi," Sora soothed. "Besides, there's not going to be a whole lot you can do from there in America. The only key to the digital world is here in Odaiba."

"Not necessarily," Izzy interjected. "Once we're inside the digital world, we can go to any place in the real world that has a port hook up. We could bring her in once we're in."

"A port hook up?" Mimi repeated. "That sounds expensive. Where do I get one?"

"You don't buy it," Izzy told her. "It's a code you type in the computer to get a port to come up."

"Oh," Mimi comprehended. "That sounds so much easier. What's the code?"

"Give me your email, and I'll send it to you," Izzy offered. "That way all you have to do is open your mail, and the port should pop up."

"Even better," Mimi agreed.

"We should get going," Kari decided, looking at the clock. "We've wasted most the morning."

"Everyone bring a sweater," Izzy warned. "It's going to be really cold."

"Just how do we get there?" Yamato asked.

"Grab hold and hang on," Tai stated.

"Grow up, Tai," Kari muttered, walking over to the computer. "Just as long as you have a hold of me when I pass through the port, you should—"

Kari could not finish her sentence because a bright light erupted from the computer and sucked her in before anyone could react.

"What the hell just happened?" Tai demanded of Izzy.

"Does it look like I know yet?" Izzy yelled back, typing like a mad man at the computer. "That shouldn't have happened without her consent. Someone else, namely someone more powerful, must have pulled her in from the digital world."

"This is not good," Iori declared, watching the group of adolescents begin to freak out.

-----------------------------------------------

"What in the world…" Kari wondered aloud as she looked around the clearing of the lake that she had just landed in front of.

"I sent for you," declared a voice behind her, scaring her.

"Why does everyone do that?" Kari muttered, turning around to face her kidnapper. She stopped instantly and stared, wondering how he did it. "Gennai?"


	5. 5

A/N: More revisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Five**

"Yes, I sent for you," Gennai revealed, walking to the lake. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused by the suddenness of it, though."

"You could have emailed me," Kari grumbled, watching his back as he stared at the lake.

"Actually, I couldn't," he disagreed. "You know of the Dark One, yes?"

"A little," she replied.

"Good. Because it is he who prevented me from emailing you."

"He can do that?"

"No, but he can monitor all messages incoming or outgoing, which presents a bit of a problem."

"No shit," Kari replied sarcastically

"I know you were planning to come here and battle him for the freedom of the digital world today, but it is crucial that you do not," Gennai warned.

"What?"

"There are more pressing matters at hand."

"What do you mean, more pressing matters?" Kari demanded. "What could be more pressing than a delusional idiot taking over the digital world?"

"You remember the Day of Destruction, don't you?" Gennai asked, turning to face her.

"How can I forget," Kari groaned. "Myotismon and his little minions made all 'Chosen' walking hate targets. And not just in Tokyo. I found out later that Myotismon had gates open all over the world and was taking out the largest cities first. Thanks to him, the whole world hates us."

"Yes, well they're about to hate you even more," Gennai predicted, turning back towards the lake. "The menace that released Myotismon into your world has opened a gate there himself, somehow."

"Don't tell me," Kari interrupted, placing her face in her hands. "Unless we stop him, he'll do a repeat of the Day of Destruction."

"Worse. He'll get humans and their partners to do it for him," Gennai told her.

"This is starting to be really bad day," Kari whined. "Why can't I be normal sixteen year old worrying about finals and the prom?"

"Because you're special," Gennai teased, smiling back at her.

"Ha ha ha," Kari said. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go to New York."

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"I told you, the Dark One can detect anything coming or going in the digital world," Gennai informed her. "The minute you pass back through, he'll have his forces on you."

"Then why isn't he here now?"

"He's on his way," Gennai stated, looking back over the lake into the distance. "See over there? That area of gray that looks like a storm cloud? Well, it is a cloud, but not one you want to come into contact with. That is a swarm of Kuwagumon headed this way."

"We gotta get outta here," Kari declared, backing into the forestry.

"Don't worry, you'll be long gone before they get here. But before you go, take these," he insisted, handing her a bunch of crests.

"What are these for?" she asked. "Izzy, Tai and I already have crests."

"I know. These are for others in your world."

"Who?"

"They will pick their hosts as they appear. Just keep them safe," Gennai advised, watching her place them in the small luck pouch she carried around her neck.

"What am I supposed to do about the girl in America?" Kari asked. "We need her, and our digimon, if we're going to fight this battle against…whoever."

"Just have her hold her digivice up to a port while you do the same, and call out 'Transfer.' She'll get ported right to you. As for the digimon, hold each of the digivices up to the port and call out 'Retrieve.' The digimon will come to you. Now you must go."

"Wait, Gennai," Kari insisted. "You still haven't told us who we're fighting."

"If you must know," Gennai told her, sighing, "it's Daemon."

"What?" Kari yelled, but it was too late. Gennai had sent her back through the port she hadn't even noticed was there. He then watched the lake part and reveal a long staircase to a fancy-looking beach house, to which he descended and entered. The lake sloshed back into place and calmed itself just in time for the Kuwagumon to land.

-----------------------------------------------

"Where the hell have you been?"

Kari looked up at her brother, still rubbing her head from when she'd collided with the coffee table, and glared. "Do you think I had a choice?"

"He does have an intriguing question, Kari," Izzy aggreed, typing at the computer.

"I was in the digital world," she stated, accepting Daisuke's hand to help her up. "Gennai pulled me in."

"That's it, I'm gonna kill him," Tai announced.

"Who's Gennai?" Yamato asked.

"No one you want to get help from," Izzy muttered. "I sent Mimi the port. We should hurry and get going ourselves."

"We can't," Kari revealed. "It seems that today is going to be just as bad as yesterday."

"What could possibly be wrong now?" Jyou asked.

"Gennai said we have bigger problems than we think," Kari said. "In the form of the Day of Destruction big."

"I should have stayed in bed today," Miyako whined.

"Don't tell me Myotismon and his armies got reconfigured and broke into our world again," Tai groaned.

"Worse," Kari whispered. "It's Daemon."

"Who's that?" Iori asked.

"Daemon the digimon that released Myotismon into our world," Izzy explained. "And all the other digimon upon the world's largest cities."

"Gennai said he's found a way into our world," Kari reiterated, looking around the room. Of the nine faces she saw, seven of them seemed confused.

"You're saying he's worse than Phantomon?" Sora asked.

"No, I'm saying he created Phantomon, his armies, and all the destructive forces four years ago," Kari clarified. "Daemon was toying back then."

"Is it too late to give these back?" Yamato asked holding up his digivice, trying to relieve some of the tension left in the room.

"We have to tell Mimi," Sora decided, moving to the computer.

"I almost forgot!" Kari exclaimed. "Email her and tell her to hold her digivice up to the port in exactly five minutes."

"What's going on?" Izzy asked.

"You'll see," Kari insisted. Mimi sent her okay back, and Kari held her D3 up to the port. "Digiport, Transfer!"

A bright flash of light blinded all of them, and those left standing heard clothes rustling, bodies colliding and a few yelps of pain. The after glare revealed a pink haired girl sitting on Tai, rubbing her knee.

"Hi," she giggled, standing up. "Thanks for breaking my fall."

"No problem," Tai groaned as he sat up. "Just don't do it again."

"Hey Meems!" Miyako called out, pulling her friend into a hug. "Been a while, huh?"

"Yep, for everyone," Mimi smiled, greeting each of her old friends. "Too bad this reunion isn't under better circumstances."

"No kidding," Jyou chuckled. "So what do we do now?"

"I dunno," Izzy murmured. "The way it sounds, we have to sit and wait for Daemon to make his move."

"We can't do that," Kari warned them. "His first move is going to be to trick some other Chosen to join him in his 'quest' or whatever."

"How?" asked Iori.

Kari shrugged, sitting down at the table. Her head still hurt badly from colliding with the coffee table, and the way things were going was not helping. "We have to do _something_."

"Why can't we just start looking for this Dark One while we're waiting?" Takeru asked. "He has to come back to our world sometime, right?"

"Makes sense," Miyako agreed. "I could track it like I did them."

"_You_ were the one tracking us?" Izzy asked. "How?"

"By monitoring the digiports and checking the data fluctuations in areas for the exact time that you went through," she explained. "I couldn't get a sure fix, though, because the data flux affects anything within a block radius of the emergence area."

"Did anyone besides me not catch any of that?" Tai asked. "Whatever. Do it. It's a lot better than sitting here doing nothing while our friends are in danger."

"Poor Biyomon," Sora sighed. "I wish she wasn't stuck there with that maniac running around."

"I agree," Mimi said. "Palmon is too sweet to be made a slave. Isn't there anything we can do for them from here?"

"Doesn't look like it," Yamato surmised, watching from across the room as Kari rubbed her temples. "Look, let's all go home and relax. It's been a day to remember, in more ways than one, and by the sounds of it, it's just going to get worse. I think we all could use a little stress relief."

"You'll get no argument from us," Tai stated, walking towards Kari and directing her to the door. "We'll call if there's any developments or whatever. You coming, Izzy?"

"This program you've made is absolutely amazing," Izzy continued, totally ignoring Tai, who shrugged and left.

"Um, one question," Mimi interjected. "How do I get home?"

"Uh oh," Yamato said. "I don't think you can, Meems."

"You can stay with me and my mom," Sora offered. "But somehow I get the feeling that your parents aren't going to be very happy when you tell them."

"No joke," Mimi agreed. "Can I borrow your phone and call them, Yama? Get it out of the way now?"

"Sure," Yamato consented, pointing to it. "I'll just blame the bill on Daisuke."

"But I don't live here," Daisuke whined.

"And with any luck, you won't be allowed back," Yamato laughed.

"Eat shit, Ishida," Daisuke hissed, grabbing his coat. "I'm going to see if I can catch up to Tai and walk home with people that appreciate my presence."

"That's just because they haven't gotten to know you yet, Dai," Yamato chuckled, and received a one fingered goodbye in response.

"You are so mean to him, you know that?" Takeru pointed out.

"He'll get over it," Yamato shrugged.

-----------------------------------------------

"Tai, Kari, wait up!" Daisuke called, running to catch up. They turned and waited, surprised to see him running towards them. "Thanks."

"No problem," Tai shrugged, continuing on. "I thought you'd stick around for a while at Ishida's."

"I prefer to spend my time with people that don't tell me I'm a waste of space," Daisuke said, falling in step beside them. "I get nothing but shit from him, and it gets old after a while."

"It seems to me that he has no room to talk," Tai said, relishing in the opportunity to slam the older blond brother. "Just what does he harass you about?"

"Okay," Daisuke began, gearing up for a long explanation. "When we were little, Takeru and I were always hanging around each other and causing trouble, and Yama came up with the stupid idea that we were gay."

"He called you were gay just because you like spending time with your best friend?" Tai asked in disbelief. "His brother doesn't mind being referred to as gay either?"

"Yama doesn't harass him us abou that anymore," Daisuke continued, watching his feet advance upon the sidewalk. "Not since the Dragon gang overheard him and decided to beat the crap out of me."

"He's the one who started your problems with that gang?" Kari repeated.

"Yeah," Daisuke affirmed. "Yama stopped calling us gay after that, but he still gives me crap all the time. I swear, it's like he goes out of his way to be mean. Even to the others."

"Some friend," Tai muttered, stooping over at a crosswalk so he could tie his shoe.

"I'm sure he's not all that bad," Kari defended, looking out into the traffic.

Through her pounding head ache, she saw a group of teenagers across the street, also waiting for their turn to cross. They were laughing at some joke the tallest boy had told, shifting their weight impatiently while they waited. Kari shifted her gaze behind them to the department store window, off which the group of teens reflected. Off the window, she could even see herself across the street, leaning against a street sign with her arms crossed.

She switched her gaze to her brother, who was joking around with Daisuke by the looks of it, then to the other people in the crowd around her. They were mostly uptight businesspersons, checking their watches as they tapped their feet restlessly, but there were a few kids her age. Her eyes swept over them uninterestedly, until she came to one that seemed to be staring at her from behind. His dark blue eyes narrowed as he watched her, unaware that she saw him through the window parallel to them, reaching out to take hold of her.

Kari whipped her head around to her left to face him, but saw that he wasn't where she'd seen him. Someone took hold of her right arm, and she wretched herself from their grasps, her pulse racing and feet walking backwards away from her supposed pursuer…right into the middle of afternoon traffic.

A loud horn sounded and her attention was drawn to it, seeing a menacing truck hurtling towards her. Her mind and body both froze at the same time, unable to comprehend what was going on, and more importantly, how to deal with it.

Someone caught hold of her below the waist, and this time left no room for her to squirm from as she was yanked out of the way. Her legs got caught in her rescuers, and the both of them were taken to the ground just before clearing the sidewalk on the other side, and squealing tires was all she heard as she screamed. A few seconds later, she was being shaken lightly and spoken to.

"Are you okay?" someone asked.

"I dunno," she stammered, trying to regain control of her shaky breathing. "Am I dead?"

"No, but you were almost a speed bump," the person chucked, helping her up as she cradled her head.

"Where's my brother?" she asked, finally looking up and around. Her eyes immediately fell on her rescuer, staring at her in a state of shock.

Her eyes went wide as well as she took in his full appearance. He wore a pair of khakis and a dark tee shirt, but his face was what got to her. She could hardly believe with his tan skin, navy hair, and a close up of dark blue eyes that he was standing in front of her. His face was that of a ghost she once knew, and her breath was taken away as she spoke the name of the boy who was supposed to be dead. "Sam?"


	6. 6

A/N: More revisions. Half way done!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Six**

_Eight years ago… _

_"Kari, what do you think you're doing?" asked a voice from the hall. She turned around to see Sam, Izzy, and her brother staring at her. Sam was staring her down hard, his blue eyes darkening behind his glasses._

_"Nothing," she replied quickly, yanking back the Koromon from the little boy her own age, much to his dismay._

_"We all agreed for our own __safety__ that we would show the digimon to no __one__," Sam began, his fist slowly balling, "and this is the second time that you've broken that trust."_

_"I'm sorry," she apologized, hanging her __head__. "I didn't think it would hurt anything."_

_"That's right," Sam continued, his voice rising. "You didn't think."_

_"I'm sorry," she repeated, tears streaming from her eight year old face. Her shoulders soon began to shake with silent sobs, and she took off towards the door, still clutching to Koromon. "I didn't mean to break the rules."_

_"The rules are for your protection!" Sam yelled. "Ever since Heightenview Terrace—"_

_"That's enough, Sam," Tai insisted, punching him in the __arm__. "She's sorry. No need to rub salt in an open wound."_

_"No, she needs to get it through her head," Sam retaliated. "If not, she could just go out some day and take Koromon with her, and end up causing another disaster!"_

_"I'm sorry!" Kari screamed, pushing past him and out the door._

_"Dammit, Sam," Tai yelled, displaying surprising strength at eleven years old by picking up the taller boy by the shirt and shaking him. "She's eight years old! You don't tell her that she caused the destruction of an entire apartment complex, especially when she had no control over it!"_

_"Fine!" Sam yelled back, breaking the boy's grasp. "I'll go talk to her."_

_Kari was crying in the elevator as it lowered, wondering where she was going to go. Ever since her parents died in the Heightenview Terrace tragedy, she and her brother had been switching off staying with Izzy's and Sam's family._

_"I wish mama and daddy were still here," she sobbed, hugging her pink digimon._

_"Don't worry, Kari," Koromon squeaked. "I'll take care of you."_

_"Okay," she smiled, walking out of the elevator and out onto the sidewalk. She walked to the corner of the street and waited for the signal to change, resolving to go to the park until…until she didn't know when. Her mind began to wander as she contemplated whether or not a person could get away with living in a park until they grew up, and barely noticed the person talking to her until they grabbed her arm._

_"Are you lost, little girl?" a tall man asked. He wore sunglasses and a hat, obscuring the view of his face mostly, and a long trench coat. His grip on her arm became tighter as he asked, "Aren't you a little young to be out wandering around alone?"_

_"I'm not alone," Kari declared, trying to shake her arm from his grasp. "I have my Koromon."_

_"Why don't you and your little toy come with me?" he suggested, pulling her back down the block._

_"No!" she cried, prying his fingers from her arm and bolting. She ran back in the direction of the street, not really looking where she was going, but more concentrating on getting away from the tall man. She ran right into the street without looking, nearly being clipped by a car as she crossed her first lane of traffic, causing her to freeze in the middle of the street, unable to move anymore out of fear._

_A loud horn sounded from behind her, and she turned to see an enormous truck barreling towards her, even though she could hear the tires of the vehicle screeching in attempt to stop. She squeezed her eyes shut and cringed in preparation for the inevitable impact, but was caught completely off guard when she was roughly shoved out of the way._

_She heard several sickening cracks accompany a loud crunch, as well as numerous loud shrieks of terror, but was still too frightened to open her eyes. Her body hurt from sliding along the pavement after being shoved out of the way, and she dreaded who was the recipient of the crunched bones if it wasn't her._

_"Sam!" she heard screamed from the opposite side of the street. She looked over to see several people holding the blue eyed and navy haired child back as he lashed at them, desperate to get to his brother._

_"My, my," said a man standing above her. "Look what you did."_

_"What?" she asked, the tears burning her eyes._

_"You got that poor boy killed," he accused, staring down at her._

_"No," she disagreed, beginning to cry harder. "I didn't mean…"_

_"So?" he continued. "The fact still remains that he's dead because of you."_

_"I'm sorry…" she whispered between sobs, clutching even tighter to the pink digimon in her arms. "I'm so sorry…"_

_"Don't tell me," the man said, pointing across the street. "Tell him. He has no brother because of you."_

_"No!" she cried, running in the opposite direction. "Sam, no!"_

-----------------------------------------------

"No, not exactly," the boy corrected her, his face scrunching slightly, breaking Kari from her reverie. "But I guess we do look alike."

"Ken…" she whispered.

"Now you remember," he said, flashing her a grin. "I know it's been awhile, but hey, you gotta see me on television at least five times a day."

"We don't have a television," she admitted lamely, seeing her brother and Daisuke rushing over out of the corner of her eye.

"Kari!" Tai yelled, practically attacking her with his hug. "Why did you do that?"

"I didn't mean to," she defended, wincing at the soreness of her new injuries.

"I think I startled her," Ken added, entering the conversation. "I thought it was her, and wanted to say hi. I guess next time I'll wait until she sees me first."

"Hey, thanks ma…" Tai started, trailing off as he caught his first full glimpse of his sister's savior. "It can't be…"

"Ken Ichijoji?" Daisuke asked for him. "The super genius who's on TV all the time?"

"Yeah," Ken affirmed, somewhat taken aback by the brown haired boy that was now shaking his hand vigorously. "And you are?"

"Oh, yeah," he remembered. "I'm Daisuke Motomiya. A good friend of Tai and Kari."

"Really?" Ken asked deadpanned, looking to Tai for confirmation.

"Yep," Tai agreed, still staring in wonder. "Wow. Little Kenny Ichijoji. It's been a long while, hasn't it?"

"It's just Ken now," he told him, shaking the older brunette's hand. "People stopped calling me Kenny after Sam died."

"Sorry," Tai apolgized, not really knowing what to say. It had been a good eight years since he'd seen the kid, as he was then. But now, a tall, athletic sixteen-year-old stood at eye level with him. "How have things been?"

"Good, I guess," Ken shrugging, looking over to Kari, who was just staring at him. "What?"

"I've just missed you," she told him, moving quickly to catch him off guard in a hug. "That's all."

Ken stood there transfixed for a few moments before returning the hug. "I missed you, too."

"Kari, we gotta go," Tai interrupted, apologetically. "The cops are going to be here any minute now."

"Meet me in our spot tomorrow morning?" Ken whispered in her ear, still holding her. She nodded slightly before finally letting go, staring back to him as Tai dragged her down the street along next to the brown haired boy called Daisuke.

"It was him," someone cried, leading over a camera crew that had appeared out of nowhere. "That boy there pushed the girl out of the way and saved her life."

"Isn't that the boy genius Ken Ichijoji?" someone else commented, starting off the frenzy that always occurred every time he was recognized.

"Is there anything you can't do?" gushed a female reporter with too much make up as she thrust her microphone into his face.

"Well, to be honest," he started, flashing his grin again, "no, there isn't."

-----------------------------------------------

"Yes, daddy," Mimi repeated into the phone for at least the hundreth time.

"Let's see if there's anything good on the tube," Yamato suggested, almost bored to tears at listening to Mimi spout into the phone and Izzy and Miyako trade technological secrets back and forth.

"We should really get moving on this Dark One stuff, Yama," Sora reminded him, watching him flop onto the couch next to his brother.

"Sure," he agreed, glancing back at her. "If you can get the two computer fiends to pay attention for a minute."

"Well, I'm going to go back to studying if we aren't going to do anything today," Jyou announced, heading for the door.

"And I have a Kendo lesson this afternoon," Iori said, following Jyou out. "If we do decide to move on this, you know where I live."

"So much for the party," Yamato commented, flipping channels so rapidly it was hard to get a clear image out of any of them. One sight caught Takeru's eye, though, and he yanked the remote from his brother's grasp, then switched back to the channel.

"Hey, ass, I was watching that," Yamato whined, leaning over to try and regain possession of the remote. Takeru just ignored him and turned up the volume. A picture of a boy with chin length navy hair and blue eyes was plastered on the screen.

"I know that kid," Takeru murmured, thinking back to his younger years. Somewhere in there was a blur of the boy and an older kid in a doorway across the hall from him, waving. He blinked back into focus as the reporter started speaking again.

"…And our team just happened to be filming the dedication to the building across the street when our camera man caught sight of a disaster in the making," the correspondent said. Her image was then replaced by shaky camera footage, even though her voice narrated. "As you can see here, the young girl, who has yet to be identified, looks to have been pushed into the street and oncoming traffic. She froze, but as you can see, this young man jumped into the street to help her, pushing her out of the way just in time."

"No way," Takeru muttered, staring in disbelief.

"What?" Izzy asked, his attention now grasped.

"That was Kari!" he yelled, jumping from his seat and dashing to the TV. He pushed a tape into his VCR and pressed record, then stepped back to hear the rest of the report.

"…The savior was recognized to be none other than the boy genius Ken Ichijoji," the correspondent continued. "He and the girl shared a brief conversation before she disappeared, but he claims not to know her whereabouts, even though the police are looking for her at this time. More on this story in our five o'clock news hour."

Takeru turned the volume down and stopped the tape, then turned to his companions. "This is not good."

"I gotta see if they're alright," Izzy announced, scrambling to the phone that Mimi had just released.

"I hope she's okay," Sora said.

"This is really not good!" Takeru repeated, now pacing the livingroom.

"Takeru, calm down," Yamato insisted, stepping in front of him. "I'm sure she's alright."

"No, you don't get it," Takeru began, but was cut off.

"Sure I do, little bro," Yamato said, throwing an arm around him. "You're worried about her. Wow. Takeru's got his first crush."

"Yama," Takeru growled, tossing his arm off. "Grow up. Didn't you hear? The police are looking for her now."

"And when they find her," Miyako continued, catching on, "they'll start asking questions."

"This is not good," Yamato said, finally comprehending.


	7. 7

A/N: Continuation of revisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**Chapter 7**

The five o'clock news dedicated their time slot to replaying the accident footage, as well as delving into the life and times of the boy genius of the day. Takeru recorded it all just the same, and spent the next half an hour rerunning the footage of the accident.

"It just doesn't make sense," he muttered, rewinding again.

"What?" Sora asked, still waiting for news of Kari's safety.

"The reporter claims that Kari was pushed out into traffic, but I don't see anything that looks like that," he explained, pushing play. "See, here it looks like she backed off the sidewalk of her own accord and didn't even realize she was stepping into traffic."

"How can you tell?" asked Mimi, sitting next to Sora. "I couldn't even tell that it was Kari until you said something."

"That could be a blessing in disguise," Yamato commented. "If we couldn't tell, and we spent the entire morning with her, then the police probably won't be very successful, either."

"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way," Miyako offered. "Maybe she did step into traffic of her own accord. Then the question would be, what, or more likely, who would make her do that?"

"Any luck, Izzy?" Takeru asked, trying to ignore the beginnings of a headache.

"None," Izzy sighed, hanging up the phone. "Even walking, they should have been home hours ago."

"Where would they go if they weren't going home?" Takeru thought out loud.

-----------------------------------------------

"So, I thought that Daisuke only had lame friends," commented the red head whose hair was sticking out in all directions.

"Fuck off, Jun," Daisuke hissed, wiping away dirt from the scraped flesh of Kari's knee with a damp cloth.

"Be nice, little brother," Jun warned in an overly sweet tone of voice, then went back to hanging on Tai as he sat on the couch watching the news. "So, how did a hottie like you get roped up with the likes of my brother?"

"He's my boyfriend, Jun," Daisuke stated deadpanned. "So if you wouldn't mind?"

"Damn," Jun yelled, storming out of the room. "Why are all the hotties gay?"

"Ouch," Kari whined between her giggles. Her arms wrapped around her sides as she continued to giggle, groaning periodically. "I think I suffered more than scrapes and bruises."

"Why don't you go take a shower, and I'll call Jyou," Daisuke offered, helping her off the table. "We obviously can't go to a hospital, but Jyou's the closest thing to a doctor without a license."

"Do you think your sister would be willing to lend me some clothes?" she asked, picking at the tatters that had once been her most comfortable clothes.

"I'll lend you some of mine," he insisted, leading her to his room. "Besides, if you borrow clothes from Jun, you might end up with less that what you have on now."

"Thanks," Kari giggled, entering the bathroom. Daisuke waited until he heard the shower start before heading back to the livingroom.

"So," Tai said, leaning over the back of the couch, "couldn't wait to get me alone, eh lover?"

Daisuke tripped over his own feet and landed face first on the carpet. He rolled over onto his back and stared wide eyed at the boy on the couch. "What?"

"On the floor and on your back for me already," Tai said, ginning like an idiot. "Usually I don't move this fast, but since you're so insistent…"

"Uh, Taichi," Daisuke said, scrambling to his feet and backing away. "I only said that stuff about us being a couple to get my sister off your back. I didn't mean for it to be taken any other way."

"Really," Tai stated seductively, then burst out laughing. He was rolling on the floor by the time Daisuke realized he'd been joking.

"That was not funny," Daisuke raged, but was soon laughing just as hard as Tai.

"Why don't you call Jyou now," Tai reminded him once they'd recovered. "It might not be a bad idea for her to get checked out with someone with a little bit of medical knowledge."

"Good idea," Daisuke agreed, heading for the phone. Tai headed down the hall and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Are you alive in there?" he yelled through the door.

"Yes," was the muffled reply. "Are both of you alive out there? It sounded like you guys had a wrestling match."

"Not quite," Tai said as he entered the bathroom. He could see the outline of his sister against the shower curtain. "How bad is it?"

"I look like I got tackled into the concrete," she reiterated as she shutting off the water. "Can you hand me a towel?"

"That guy Jyou is coming over to look at them," he told her as he tossed a towel at her. "He's a med student or something, but I guess it's better than nothing."

"I guess," Kari agreed, emerging. "I knew this was going to be a rough day, but man, I should have just stayed in bed."

"Yep," Tai concurred, rubbing the back of his neck. "And it's just going to get better, isn't it?"

He received no reply, but he wasn't expecting one, so he just left to go find Daisuke. He was on the phone still, sort of. He was actually holding the phone a foot away from his ear as the person on the other end ran a string of curses at him.

"Takeru, calm down," Daisuke tried to say, but Takeru just continued on.

"We've been worried about you guys for hours!" he yelled, at such an amplified voice that Tai had no problems eavesdropping. "We see you on the news, then try calling all afternoon and get no response. What here we supposed to think?"

"Look, if you're that upset, then just come over," Daisuke offered. "Bring Jyou with you. We could use some of his medical opinion, or whatever he claims to give."

"That boy flips out over my sister more than I do," Tai commented after Daisuke had hung up the phone. "And he only met her two days ago."

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked.

"I think it's obvious," Tai stated, spilling onto the couch again. "He's absolutely infatuated with her."

"Who's infatuated with who?" Kari asked, emerging quite damp and disheveled looking from the hall. Daisuke's clothes were several inches too long for her, as well as too big.

"You look absolutely priceless," Tai smirked.

Kari blew raspberries at him, shoving him over and sitting down next to him. "Don't change the subject."

"Well," Daisuke spoke quite loudly, "Yamato Ishida is absolutely infatuated with Jun Motomiya."

"What?" yelled Jun from her room, which she promptly exited and tackled Daisuke. "Say that again!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Daisuke asked with an evil glint in his eye. "Whenever he comes over with Takeru, he always avoids you because he's too shy to talk to you. He told me himself."

"Oh, my God!" Jun screamed, finally releasing her brother. "He likes me!"

"Yep," Tai added, not wanting to be left out on this one. "You should go over to his house right now and see him. Don't let him deny it, because he really has the hots for you."

"You swear?" Jun pleaded.

"I swear that if I lie, may I never kiss another man in my life," Tai promised, crossing his heart.

"Oh, wow!" Jun yelled as she grabbed her purse and shoes. "Don't wait up for me, little brother!"

Daisuke's shoulders were shaking with barely contained laughter, which was finally released when the front door slammed. "Ah, sweet revenge!"

"You guys are mean," Kari stated, softly rubbing her shoulder.

"It's a gift," Daisuke shrugged, watching her. "Hey, you want a massage? Mimi taught me how to do it. It might help your muscles relax."

"Sure," Kari relented, sitting down on the floor in front of him. "Just be _real_ gentle."

"No problem," Daisuke assured her, then set about his task. Tai watched them, and almost burst out laughing again.

'Way to go Kari,' he thought. 'She's caught the eye of two best friends after only meeting them a couple days ago.'

"You know, Kari," he commented, not wanting to miss the opportunity to give his sister a hard time, "you seem to be quite popular with the boys lately."

Though she didn't move, her eyes popped open and stared at the floor. "So?"

"So," Tai continued, "first there was that drunk at the bar last week, and now the youngest Ishida brother has begun to act real protective of you all day, giving you special treatment and such. Not to mention going out of his way to impress you."

"What?" Kari asked, finally looking up.

Tai nodded at Daisuke, giving his sister a wink. "Daisuke can tell you. He just got off the phone with the distraught boy a little while ago. The only way to calm him down was to let him come over and see you."

"That's right," Daisuke agreed lamely from behind.

"I don't believe this," Kari muttered. It was that next moment that the doorbell rang. Daisuke went to answer it, leaving the siblings alone in the livingroom.

"Way to go, sis," Tai said quietly. "You've got the both of them head over heels for you."

"Shut up," she hissed, punching him in the shoulder.

"Takeru, I said to bring Jyou," Daisuke argued from the entryway. "Not the entire party."

Kari tried to sigh in exasperation, but winced half way through, and coughed instead. Jyou watched it all as he took his shoes off. "Kari, come with me for a minute."

She got up to follow him, Tai mirroring her movements and following Jyou into Daisuke's bedroom. Tai leaned against the door as Jyou instructed Kari to take the oversized tee shirt off. She did so painstakingly, and Jyou moved in for his examination. Kari shivered under his touch, taking in a few short gasps when he came to a tender area.

"Well, doc, am I dying?" Kari joked.

"You have some bad spots, but I don't think you bruised your ribs," Jyou diagnosed, looking over her back. "But what really gets me are these scars. Where did you get them?"

"What can we do about the pain and shortness of breath?" Tai asked, changing the subject.

"No lifting, no grunt work. Basically, keep her as immobile as possible for a week," Jyou advised.

"Time for that paid vacation the boss owes me," Kari muttered. "I can't take a week off to heal or I'll lose my job."

"It's your choice," Jyou said, heading for the door. "I can't give you any painkillers, and aspirin will only do so much. I can guarantee that there is very little that you do that isn't affect your sore ribs in some way, and if you aggravate them, it's going to hurt that much more."

"Let's just go home," Kari whined, leaning against Tai as they marched out of the bedroom. "Markus is not going to be happy with me."

"He'll understand," Tai reassured her. "Maybe he'll stick you in the music box and have me run the tables."

"That's a disaster in the making," Kari predicted, remembering the last time Tai had tried to tend tables. He'd dropped more drinks than even he could pay for, and more than once onto people. "I'll just deal."

"I'll come visit ya," Daisuke promised. "Keep scuzzy bachelors from attacking you again."

"Thanks," Kari smiled.

"We need to be heading home," Tai insisted, grabbing their shoes. "It's going to be a long week."

"Let's get going," Kari agreed. "Tomorrow after school lets out for you guys, meet over here and we'll retrieve our digimon."

"How?" Izzy asked.

"Too stressed to explain," she deferred, leaning on her brother again. "You'll see tomorrow."

"Just make sure that freaky sister of yours is not present, Daisuke," Yamato instructed. "I can't stand that girl."

"Sure thing, Yama," Daisuke grinned.


	8. 8

A/N: More revisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Eight **

"Markus, you are a life saver," Kari declared, hugging the lanky bar tender, then instantly regretting it as her torso began to throb. She let out a loud groan and clutched her mid section.

"I know," Markus said, smiling. "Now hurry and get up to the music box before the doors are opened. I doubt working the mosh pit is going to be any good to your injuries."

"Thanks," Kari said, then waved bye to her brother, also behind the bar. Kari had been right in assuming that Markus would not be too keen on the idea of Tai working tables again, and had suggested that Tai help him tend bar. Lucky for Kari, she had bruised her ribs the week of spring break for Tokyo University, and the clubbers would be out in full swing, so a second bar tender was needed anyway.

Still, it was going to be a long night. The music box would be less stressful to her sore ribs, but there were other issues with being there. One of the most annoying would be the drunk idiots trying to request a song, and getting mad when she told them they could only play their song once every two hours. Some of them could be extremely violent, and she was in no mood to fight them off. She couldn't decide if she wanted to cry in relief or exasperation when Daisuke showed up.

"Hi!" he yelled over the music. Kari quickly pulled him into the box and locked the door before anyone else could get there.

"Don't you have school today?" she asked, checking the clock. It was half past one.

"I sleep through all my classes anyway," Daisuke replied, taking her seat at the console. "Might as well do something to blame it on."

"Whatever," Kari shrugged, walking back down to attend to the drunks pounding on the glass of the booth. She tried to inform them as politely as possible that their song was in the next rotation, but the inebriated group was not going to relent. They were less aggressive, though, when Daisuke walked up behind her, and the group sourly made their way back to the floor.

"See, it's not so bad having me around," Daisuke reasoned, taking on a super hero stance. Kari simply laughed at him, and went to switch the CD rotation. The two joked on for hours afterward, both of them not noticing the time until last call had been made.

"You definitely better get home soon," Kari told, looking at the clock again to see that it was quarter after five. "Your parents are going to go nuts again."

"Nah," Daisuke disagreed, waving his hand. "I told them I was staying over at Takeru's. They won't even know."

"How clever," Kari commented, shutting down the music box. "Still, you have to go to school soon, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged, looking down at the floor.

"Come on, Taichi and I will walk you home," she suggested, pulling him along. "You can tell your parents that you forgot your clothes or something."

"Nah, I better go to Takeru's," Daisuke decided, following her out of the club.

"Suit yourself," she shrugged, then moved to follow Tai in the opposite direction down the block.

"Kari," Daisuke called out, grabbing her arm at the last minute, "I had a great time again tonight."

"Me, too," she agreed, smiling at him. He smiled back, then leaned forward and kissed her. It was brief, and Kari had little time to react before he had pulled away and headed down the street.

"See you this afternoon," he called over his shoulder.

"Right," she said, watching him go. Her brother appeared behind her.

"Wow. I thought it'd be Takeru to make the first move," he grinned. Kari smacked him in the shoulder and began walking off without him. "What'd I do?"

----------------------------------------------

"So, where were you last night?" Takeru asked as soon as Daisuke showed up at his door.

"Checking out a hot brunette at Club Firewalker," he smiled.

"Hmm, if this brunette is that attractive, I may have to go there and see for myself," Takeru proposed. "See what could be so alluring that you'd lie to both your parents and make your best friend have to come up with excuses for you."

Daisuke just shrugged as they began their journey to school. "It's your sleep deprivation."

-----------------------------------------------

At half past two, Kari left her apartment and walked to the library. She knew she'd be early, but she hadn't got much sleep thanks to Daisuke anyway, so she just decided to go early. She walked back to the library in search of the computer she had used to escape from Daisuke only two days earlier. She sat down and shifted until she found a position that didn't make her ribs ache that much, and began her wait.

"So you do remember," Ken said from behind her. He watched her body jump in surprise, then laughed at the scowl she gave him.

"I didn't think you'd be here this early," she told him. "Don't you have school?"

"The perks of being a boy genius," he shrugged, pulling up a chair across from her. "I can come and go in school as I please."

"Boy genius," Kari repeated. "When'd that happen?"

"Well, after Sam died," Ken explained, "I had a lot of time on my hands, and I needed something to fill it."

"Ken," Kari began, looking down at the floor. "I want to say something that I didn't get a chance to do at Sam's funeral."

"That was just a bad day," Ken grimaced, pushing away the unpleasant memory. He'd done a few things that were less than fond to remember at his brother's wake.

"Yes, but I want to apologize," Kari continued.

"For what?" Ken asked.

"For, um," she stammered, beginning to fidget. "For getting your brother killed."

"What?" Ken exclaimed, a little louder than he'd planned. Somewhere a few bookshelves over, he heard someone shush him. "What are you talking about?"

"If I hadn't ran out of the apartment that day, he wouldn't have followed," Kari explained, her shoulders shaking with unreleased sobs. "He wouldn't have followed and wouldn't have gotten hit by that truck…"

"And if I hadn't insisted on playing with Koromon that day, you would have never gotten in trouble with Sam," Ken argued, placing a hand on her shoulder. "A lot of ifs can't ever bring him back, nor can they place the blame on anyone. It's not your fault, Kari. That's why they're called accidents."

"But still—"

"But nothing," Ken interrupted. "I will accept no apology, because none is needed."

He smiled at her, then pulled her into a hug. Kari sniffled a little, then pushed away. "So, besides being a boy genius, what's new?"

'There's so much to tell her,' he thought.

_"You're here for a reason," _a voice floated in his head.

'Always ruining my fun,' he grumbled, frowning. Kari watched in fascination as his expressions changed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he dismissed, coming out of his reverie. "How about we go visit the digital world for a while?"

"We can't," Kari told him. "It's not safe there right now."

"What in the digital world could possibly top Kari and her Koromon?" Ken asked, laughing on the outside. 'She said it wasn't safe, not that the ports were locked. Is she the one doing it?'

"That's another thing," Kari began. "Koromon isn't my digimon anymore. I guess he never was in the first place. He belongs to Tai now, and fights with him."

"Did he take him away or something?" Ken asked, his mood darkening.

"No," Kari insisted, trying to calm him down. "I just got my own digimon a few years ago. A Gatomon. Tai would never take Koromon away, and you know it."

"Sorry," he apologized, berating himself for succumbing to his old childhood jealousy. "Flash backs of my brother."

"Hey, would you like to see Izzy again?" Kari asked, remembering how much Ken had liked the computer whiz for his knowledge in anything electronic.

"Izzy?" Ken repeated. "He still lives around here?"

"Yep. My brother and I are going to meet him and a few others at Daisuke's house this afternoon," she revealed. "Would you like to come with?"

"Me come along?" he asked incredulously. "Why?"

"You already know everything about the digital world, so it's not like you're going to tell," she reasoned. "Besides, maybe you can help us out a little bit."

'Is this for real?' he asked himself.

_"Go with her," _his subconscious directed him. _"Remember the objective." _

'Right,' he thought, then turned to Kari. "I'd love to."

-----------------------------------------------

"HI YAMATO!"

Yamato cringed as the squeally voice sounded as soon as the door opened. "Hi Jun."

"Come on in," Jun told him, taking hold of his arm and yanking him in full force, leaving Takeru still standing at the door watching in amusement. "I'm soooo glad you came. When Daisuke told me you were coming over this afternoon, I almost canceled my interview at my new job today. But alas, mom and dad had final say. Aren't parents just too in your business?"

Yamato glared daggers at Daisuke as he rolled on the floor with laughter, right along side Tai. "Yeah, whatever."

"I have to leave in a few minutes, but until then I can visit," she said, still pulling him, now down the hall. "How about we go somewhere to visit a little more private?"

Daisuke was still laughing when Miyako and Iori arrived, but had recovered by the time Jyou and the girls got there. Izzy was last to arrive, save Kari, carrying with him an infamous yellow and white laptop. Tai saw this and groaned immediately.

"Izzy, that thing's cursed," Tai groaned. "Why'd you bring it?"

"It's not cursed," Izzy argued, setting the laptop up on the table. "It works fine."

"What's wrong with it?" Takeru asked.

"Oh, nothing," Tai commented, frowning. "Besides the fact that it's been _enhanced_ by our friend Gennai."

"Who is this Gennai?" Jyou asked.

"A meddler," Tai grumbled. "All he does or touches is cursed in some way. Take the laptop for instance. He borrowed it from Izzy to put in a drive that would help us retrieve data while in the digital world. What he forgot to tell us was that we could be tracked while we established a connection, and using that connection, a virus could be planted directly into the hard drive."

"Since we're not connecting to the digital world, Tai, that isn't going to be a problem," Izzy insisted. "I want to download the information stored in their digivices today. That way if any of them have seen digimon we haven't, it's stored in the data bank anyway. You never know when we may need it."

"How can you do that?" Miyako asked, staring down the laptop. Tai and the others decided to tune out the detailed explanation.

"So, where's Kari?" Takeru asked.

"On her way, I'd guess," Tai shrugged. "She said she had to stop somewhere and then she'd meet us here."

"With her track record, you still let her go out by herself?" Jyou asked. "Isn't that asking for trouble?"

"Usually," Tai said. "But I know where she was going."

"Where?" Daisuke asked. The doorbell rang.

"You want to know so bad, you ask her," Tai advised. Daisuke answered the door.

"Hey, Kari. What's u—" Daisuke stopped mid sentence as he caught sight of the person following her in.

"Hi again," Ken said, taking off his shoes. "Daisuke, right?"

"Right," he nodded, coming out of his stupor. "Um, what're you doing here?"

"He's here to see Izzy," Kari told him, pulling the two boys out of the entryway.

"Ken?" Izzy asked. "No way."

"Izzy!" Ken yelled, then ran across the room and hugged the stunned young man. "How are you?"

"Should we ask?" asked Jyou.

"No," Kari answered. "Let's get down to business. Where's Yamato?"

"My sister's holding him hostage," Daisuke laughed.

"Daisuke," Kari scolded. She then moved down the hall. A few moments later a few shouts could be heard, and Jun stormed out the door, muttering curses the entire way.

"That was great," Yamato laughed, coming into the livingroom, Kari following. "Oh, the look on her face was just great."

"What happened?" Takeru asked.

"Oh, nothing." Kari shrugged, smiling. "I just used my 'Oh, you found my boyfriend!' line and gave him a big kiss."

"You still use that?" Ken chuckled.

"Yeah, why not?" Kari asked, then burst into giggles. "It works every time."

"Can we be serious now?" Izzy demanded.

"What's he doing here?" Yamato asked, pointing at Ken.

"I brought him, it's fine," Kari declared. "Let's just get on with this. Everyone put your digivice on the table. Izzy, open a port."

"What's going on?" Ken asked.

"No idea," Izzy shrugged. "I am very interested in seeing how this works, though."

"Alright everyone stand back," Kari said, picking up a digivice in each hand. She held them both out at arms length toward the port, and called out, "Digiport, retrieve!"

The port lock flashed green for a moment, and a bright light erupted from her hip, and focused on the computer. The intensity became too much to look at, and all were forced to close their eyes. Sounds did not escape them, though, and in the next moment, a loud thud, followed by a loud squeal and a groan.

"Palmon!" Mimi cried as soon as she uncovered her eyes. She jumped over Izzy, who was now sitting on the floor and clutching a beach ball sized bug, and scooped up the plant-like digimon. "I've missed you so much!"

"Mimi!" Palmon yelled, but said not much else as Mimi hugged the air out of her friend.

"Prodigious," was all Izzy had to say, staring down at Tentomon.

"Wow," Ken whispered. The others jumped in with their opinions, and he slunk back down the hall, going over what he just saw. 'She's the one activating the ports.'

_"You must stop her," _told his inner voice.

'How?' he thought. 'They will find out about the plan if I announce myself too early.'

_"Put her out of commission," _growled the voice. _"Permanently." _

"No," Ken whispered, shaking his head. He walked back out into the living room and realized that he'd been hidden for a while, because the room was overrun by digimon. In addition to Palmon and Tentomon, there was a Patamon, Poromon, Demi-Veemon, Upamon, Biyomon, and Gomamon running about. Another flash of light blinded him, and he looked over to see Tai and the older blond brother clutching digimon.

"Matt!" Gabumon exclaimed, wrapping four arms around the lanky blond.

"Missed you too, Gabumon," Yamato grinned.

"Tai, Gennai wanted me to tell you something," Agumon squealed. "But I can't remember what."

"You'll remember later," Kari assured him. "One left."

She reached down to the waistband of her pants and pulled her digivice, formally hidden by her shirt, off and held it to the screen. Ken just stared at the digivice that looked to be an exact replica of his, save the color. Not even the light that erupted from it as the retrieval was called deterred him from staring.

'It is her,' he thought forlornly.

_"Get rid of her," _ran through his head. He moved toward the girl with the Gatomon in her lap without thinking…


	9. 9

A/N: Getting closer to the end of revisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Nine **

…But tripped half way there.

"Whoops, sorry," said Agumon, who had been in the process of getting off of Tai. He looked at the boy he just tripped and his eyes lit up. "Ken!"

"Huh?" he responded, staring back at the orange miniature dinosaur without recognition.

"Don't you remember me?" Agumon asked, trying to hug his legs.

"No…" he shook his head, struggling to maintain his balance.

"He's Koromon," Kari told him, walking over with her Gatomon. "He digivolved into Agumon. That's probably why you didn't recognize him."

"I haven't seen you in forever!" the digimon exclaimed. "Where have you been all this time? Whatcha been doing? Did you miss me? Have you…"

Agumon's voice had been slowly tuning out in Ken's head, and was replaced by a less enthusiastic one. _"You missed your chance." _

'I won't miss again,' he promised, looking over at Kari. She was also trying to pry Agumon from his legs, wincing every so often and clutching her waist with one hand. 'What's wrong with her?'

"Down, boy," Tai insisted, succeeding in pulling the digimon back. "You can harass him with questions later. What did Gennai tell you to tell me?"

"Oh, yeah. That the Dark One left yesterday not long after Kari, and it looks like he's going to be gone awhile," he revealed, with the other digital creatures in the room nodding in accordance.

"That's good," Miyako sighed.

"No, it's not," Takeru disagreed.

"Why not?" asked Iori.

"Because that means if he's not in the digital world, he's somewhere in our world wreaking havoc instead," Yamato explained. "Same song, new verse."

"What Dark One?" Ken asked. 'They've were informed by someone. Probably this Gennai.'

"It's a long story," Tai assured him. "But since we're dealing with it, what do we do now?"

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "How do we start looking for someone that could be anyone?"

"Well, let's narrow the field," Izzy proposed. "Let's assume that they're around our age, since that's when most of the 'Chosen' were revealed. Also, let's assume they're a loner. Unless they've got a group like ours that all have the same problem, I doubt that he'd want anyone knowing about it."

"Why all of a sudden are we assuming it's a he?" Jyou asked. "Does anyone really know for sure?"

"No, I guess not," Izzy shrugged. "What else?"

"They'll be recruiting," Takeru stated. "Looking for other 'Chosen.'"

"So what do we do?" Tai asked again.

"I say we give them Dai's sister and let her do the work for us," Yamato joked.

"Come on, Yama," Takeru chided. "This is serious. Izzy and Miyako, you guys are on computer duty. We can use Miyako's program and try to track down where the Dark One came out."

"Gotcha," Miyako said, then grabbed Izzy by the wrist and dragged him out the door, their digimon running behind them. "We'll call if we find anything."

"Jyou, we need to know the names of everyone born in Tokyo starting with the year you were born up to the year Iori was born," Takeru continued. "You're the only person who can get those kinds of medical records without a lot of questions."

"So you think," Jyou commented. "Let's go, Gomamon."

"Sora, Mimi, once Jyou has the names, you guys get to go through them and determine who's still in Tokyo and who isn't," Takeru instructed. "We need them sorted into districts for when Miyako finds out where we should be looking."

"Come on, Biyomon, Palmon," Sora herded the creatures, heading for the door. "We'll be at my mom's shop for the rest of the day."

"Yama," Takeru said, "you, Iori and I will be in charge of emailing the network so they're up to speed on things."

"What's 'the network?'" Kari asked.

"You didn't think there was only eleven of us in the world that are 'Chosen,' did you?" Yamato smirked. "Last time I checked the stats, there were over twelve thousand of us registered all over the world."

"And just where do you register something like that?" Ken asked.

"Ken, you're good with computers, aren't you?" Takeru asked, cutting off Yamato's response.

"I guess so," he answered.

"Good. You've been recruited," Takeru announced. "You and Dai get to try and figure out some way to allow our old digivices to let us port to the digital world."

"Aw, come on," Daisuke whined. "That sounds boring. Can't I just hang around Kari and protect her?"

Yamato, Tai, Kari, Ken, and Takeru all had the same answer. "No!"

"Let's go, partner," Ken chuckled, pulling Daisuke into a headlock and pulling him out the door that way. "See ya later, Kari."

"Before you even say it, Takeru," Tai interrupted, holding up his hands to the young blond, "we can't. We both have jobs that we can't afford to miss."

"I know," Takeru agreed. "You don't have to do anything."

"Really? Sweet!" Tai exclaimed. "We do have to get ready for work, though, so we'll see you guys later."

"Let us know if you need anything," Kari added as they walked out.

"Hey T.K.," Yamato started.

"We agreed that I wouldn't call you Matt, and you would stop calling me T.K.," Takeru reminded him.

"I know," Yamato smiled. "I just wanted to know where you came up with the stupidest idea to put Dai and that kid together to do something that we've been trying to do for almost a year."

"Yeah," Iori jumped in. "As much as I hate to speak ill of other people, I must admit that your choice to put Daisuke on something that deals with computers was not something I was expecting."

"I did it as a test," Takeru told them.

"Takeru, take it from me, Dai is going to fail it," Yamato predicted.

"The test isn't for Dai," Takeru stated. "It was for Ken."

"What?" the other two boys asked.

"I don't trust him," Takeru told them. "And I know if they come up unsuccessful with a way of porting, and Dai doesn't get pulled over to the other side of the fight, we can trust him."

"Aw, is poor T.K. a little jealous of the new kid being after his girl?" Yamato cooed.

"If it's jealousy, I'd say it's overkill," Iori muttered.

"I'm serious guys," Takeru frowned. "Who better than to take over the digital world than the person that no one would expect. The picture perfect, too good to be true, boy next door."

"I never thought of that," Iori said. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to find out just who this kid really is," Takeru decided. "Something about him just isn't right either way. I'm sure you two can handle the responsibility of emailing the network."

"Sure," Yamato agreed. "I'll start right after band practice."

"Oh, and guys," Takeru added, before they could all go their separate ways. "This doesn't leave this room. I don't want anyone else, especially not the rest of our group, to know about this. Okay?"

"You got it," Yamato nodded. "Page me if you need me."

"Takeru," Iori began. "Do you really think it's him?"

"For Kari's sake," he sighed, "I hope not."

-----------------------------------------------

The crowd was horrible for a Monday night, even if it was spring break. Kari hid Gatomon and Agumon under the music console, but she still was nervous that they'd somehow be seen, but had declined the idea of leaving them home alone. Her ribs ached something fierce, and the minutes just seemed to drag on until a familiar face was seen heading her way.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, pulling the young man inside the box through several drunks trying to request a song.

"Checking out a hot brunette at Club Firewalker," he grinned, walking over to the wall-o-music.

"And your parents don't care?" she asked, seeing the time as quarter to two.

"Nah," he shrugged. "I told them I was spending the night at Daisuke's."

"Okay, then what in the world is that?" Kari asked, pointing to what looked like a beer belly under his shirt.

"A flying pig," he smiled.

"Hey! I am not a pig!" yelled his stomach, which had begun squirming. "Let me out!"

"Sorry, Patamon, couldn't resist," Takeru chuckled, releasing him under the music console. "Now stay down there, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"So, what you really come here for?" Kari asked, crossing her arms.

"I just want to know a little more about this Ken," Takeru told her. "Where'd you meet him?"

"It's a long story," Kari said.

"I've got time," he offered, sitting down.

_Ten years ago… _

"Class, I would like you to meet a new student," announced a tall young woman with wavy brown hair. "This is Hikari Kamiya. She is new to Odaiba, so let's all make her feel welcome."

"Hello Hikari Kamiya," the class chanted in unison.

"Why don't you go find an empty desk," the teacher told the six year old girl with a whistle around her neck.

"Come sit over here, Hikari!" yelled a little girl with blond pigtails. Hikari smiled and walked over to the girl who was almost standing on her desk to get her attention. "My name is Koroki Lin."

"Nice to meet you," Hikari bowed, then sat down at the desk next to her. She glanced around her as the teacher began her lesson for the day. In front of her was a group of boys that obviously were in the front row as the teacher's choice, seeing as they couldn't stop talking and she was constantly turning around to shush them.

On her right was Koroki, and behind her was what was probably her fan club, seeing as they were always trying to get her attention. On her left was a wall of windows just past the last boy in the row. He sat there quietly, staring at the teacher and her lesson, never breaking his concentration on the chalkboard full of letters and numbers.

"Hey, Hikari," Koroki whispered. "Wanna sit by me at lunch?"

"Sure," she agreed, earning jealous glares from the fan club behind them. It lasted the entire morning, and Hikari practically ran out of her seat when the lunch bell rang. Lunch was too short for her liking, though, and before she knew it, she was back in the classroom with holes being stared in the back of her head.

"Okay, class, I want you guys to pair up and go over the flash cards for twenty minutes," the teacher instructed. "Seeing as last time some of us were a little too rowdy when I let you pick your own partners, we're going to pair up alphabetically by your last name."

Much to the dismay of Koroki, Hikari was paired with the little boy by the wall. She pulled a chair up to his desk and waited for the teacher to hand out the cards. The silence was looming between them, and finally Hikari could take it no more.

"So, you're Kenneth Ichijoji?" she asked. A nod was the only response she received. "Have you lived here at Odaiba long?"

The boy finally looked up at her, giving her a quizzical look. "Yes, my whole life. Why?"

"Just wondering," Hikari said. "I used to live in central Tokyo, but my dad's job got transferred here. I was just wondering if you like it here."

"It's okay, I guess," he shrugged, looking out the window.

"It sounds like you don't really like it," Hikari guessed.

"I think I'd like it more if my brother wasn't a genius," he commented.

"What's that got to do with anything?" she asked, confused.

"I'm always compared to my big brother, Sam, and he's a genius," he revealed. "I don't learn things as quick as he does, so everyone calls me dumb."

"That's mean," Hikari stated. "Who says that?"

"Everyone," he shrugged, picking up the flash cards. "We better get started, or we'll get in trouble."

"It was like that for awhile," Kari finished. "Ken had convinced himself that he didn't deserve friends, but after awhile he came around and we started playing together. It was great, until his brother's funeral."

Takeru watched as her lip began to quiver. "What?"

"He didn't take it very well," Kari struggled, trying to restrain a sob. "After the funeral, his parents moved away, and I didn't see him again for a long time."

"It's probably better that way," Takeru assessed. "Whatever was hurting him was given time to go away, and obviously it was a good thing. Ken is back and wants to be your friend again."

"Yeah, you're right," Kari sighed. "Hey, look, it's time to go home already."

"I'll wait with you while you close down," Takeru offered.

Tai gave the two of them the weirdest look as they approached after they finished closing. "Hey, man, whatcha doing?"

"I came to check out a hot brunette," Takeru grinned.

"Did you find her?" Tai asked.

"Oh, yeah," Takeru smiled, watching Kari as she talked to Markus. She came back over half dragging two backpacks and handed one to Tai.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yep," Tai nodded, taking the other bag as well.

"I'll come see you again tonight, okay?" Takeru promised, giving her a hug.

"Why don't you try sleeping nights?" Kari suggested. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Nah, I can sleep through my study hall," he insisted, then gave her a light kiss before taking off in the opposite direction, clutching his 'gut.'

Kari turned around to see her brother staring at her. "What?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Tai shook his head. "What _are_ we going to do with you, Miss Kamiya?"

-----------------------------------------------

"And where were you last night?" Daisuke asked as Takeru practically fell into his seat.

"Checking out a hot brunette at Club Firewalker," he yawned. "Had a great time."

"Probably not as good as me," Daisuke smirked, pulling out his math book.

"I could argue that point," Takeru smirked back, finding a comfortable spot on his desk before retreating to dreamland.


	10. 10

A/N: More revisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Ten **

"Remind me to slap Takeru around a little next time I see him," Mimi fumed, shuffling through a stack of papers. "He gave us the worst part of the job."

"Actually," Sora reasoned, sorting through her own pile, "he probably gave us this job because he knows we're the only ones responsible enough to do it."

"I'm still going to smack him," Mimi grumbled. Beside her, Palmon was snoring lightly, her breath rustling a few stray papers that had been deemed 'maybes.'

"I wouldn't mind giving Jyou a good slap," Sora commented.

"Really?" Biyomon asked, hopping onto the table next to her. "Sora, you never resort to violence."

"Don't worry, Biyomon," Sora reassured her, scratching the feathers on her friend's head. "I would never hurt Jyou, or any of our friends. All I meant was that Jyou needs to be, uh, how do I say this, 'adjusted' when it comes to his list of priorities."

"Oh," Biyomon sighed, relieved. "Okay."

"How much is left?" Mimi asked, finishing sorting her little pile.

"Um," Sora stalled, checking the dates of birth. "Next up is the year that Yama was born. We've still got a long way to go."

"Oh, I'm really going to beat Takeru," Mimi promised, grabbing the next stack of papers.

-----------------------------------------------

"Izzy, the scan is done," Miyako called into her living room.

"So, what's the verdict?" Izzy asked, looking over her shoulder. "Wait a minute, there's a half a dozen target zones."

"Yeah," Miyako agreed reluctantly, avoiding his gaze. "My program can track the fluxes that are created when someone uses a port, but not so specifically to rule out any port done in the last week."

"So you're telling me that these are all places that people have gone into or come out of the digital world?" Izzy asked, more to clarify things for himself than inquire. Miyako gave her nod of affirmative. "Then all we have to do is rule out the places that we've been when Kari used a port."

"Right," Miyako assured him. She waited a moment before quickly adding, "There's also a four block radius that they could have come out at."

"You're kidding," Izzy accused, slapping his hand to his head. "We had better get moving then."

-----------------------------------------------

"So, Daisuke," Ken started as he typed away at the computer, "how long have you been a, uh, 'Chosen?'"

"Eight years, I guess," Daisuke sighed, leaning back and tipping the chair he sat in onto two legs, bored as he stared at the shelves of books. "Wow. Half my life."

"Really," Ken commented, half listening. "The same for the rest of your friends?"

"Yeah," Daisuke said, thinking back to that fateful day. "Just the eight of us hanging around the same jungle gym in the park when it happened."

"What?" Ken asked, now fully paying attention.

"Well," Daisuke chuckled, "the duty was almost pounded into us."

_Eight years ago… _

"Betcha a soda that I make it across the monkey bars before you do, T.K.," Daisuke challenged, grinning.

"Not a chance," Takeru denied, grinning back. "Ready…Set…"

"Go!" Daisuke yelled, taking a small lead. Takeru was about to complain of his cheating tactics when a fierce rumbling shook them both off of the playground equipment to the ground, then ceased as abruptly as it had begun. "What was that?"

"T.K., Dai, are you guys okay?" Yamato asked, running over to them from his spot in the shade where he'd been lounging.

"We're fine, what about them?" Takeru posed, pointing over to a small boy and a girl about their own age. "They fell off the slide."

"We're okay, too," the girl assured them, straightening her glasses and shoving her long strands of lavender hair back behind her ears. "We were at the bottom anyway. What caused that shaking?"

"Probably just some localized seismic activity," suggested a boy with his face in a book, sitting not too far away on a park bench. "Life goes on. Now, will you guys get out of the way? Your blocking my reading light and I have a big math test on Monday."

"Dude," Yamato said, staring at the four-eyed, navy haired book worm. "It's Saturday."

"Exactly," the boy agreed, finally looking up. "I've got only two days to study."

"I will never understand how you can do that," stated a light voice in a pink cowboy hat one bench over. "All that reading would give you eye wrinkles."

"Not everyone is as beauty-centered as you, Mimi," replied the girl sitting next to her with red-orange hair. She closed the laptop she had been typing at to look her friend in the face. "Everyone has their own special quality."

The rumbling stopped anymore of a conversation that would have been, jarring everyone to the ground. It didn't stop right away, and the eight children clutched to each other in frail attempt to stop being moved by the quaking. A loud roar rang out from behind them, and their heads turned in unison toward a huge orange and blue striped dinosaur coming straight towards them.

"We gotta move!" Yamato yelled, grabbing the arms of the two people closest to him and yanking them away from the bench area. The others' bodies were pulled too, and landed in a dog pile near the base of the jungle gym. Daisuke looked back just in time to see the bench they'd all been huddling around be squashed by the dinosaur's foot.

"Oh, wow," he whispered, watching the dinosaur amble on, until he was confronted by a giant parrot. He crawled over to a nearby tree for protection, being followed by the lavender haired girl and the little boy. They watched, transfixed, as the parrot and dinosaur traded blows.

Out of nowhere, a blinding light engulfed the two combatants, blinding everyone with its intensity. When they looked up again, both monsters were gone, the only evidence of their existence being flying dirt clouds and a crushed park bench. No one said a word for awhile, until a beep sounded from the laptop held by the redhead.

"Sora had barely opened the laptop when our digivices came flying out at us," Daisuke finished. "If we'd known how much trouble they'd end up being, we probably would have tried to give them back."

"You were in the real world when you received it?" Ken asked, staring.

"Yep, and some creepy message," Daisuke added. "Sora has it saved somewhere, I'm sure. Anyway, we better get back to figuring out a way into the digital world or Takeru will rant forever about us being slackers."

"If there's one thing I've never been in my entire life," Ken smirked, "it's a slacker."

"Still, we are getting nowhere fast," Daisuke groaned, pulling the chair up to the computer.

"Hey, maybe we could ask around," Ken suggested. "What's that place that Yamato was talking about that you register as a Chosen? Maybe we could send an email to all of them asking if they had any ideas."

"That's a good idea," Daisuke agreed. "My friend Willis runs the site. I can email him and have him forward us a list of names and addresses of all the Chosen."

"Perfect," Ken whispered, smirking. 'The fool.'

-----------------------------------------------

"Anyone home?" Kari called out as she entered the open door to the Ishida apartment. "Hello?"

"Hey," Yamato greeted, emerging from the hallway. "What're you doing here?"

"I just came by to see if I could help any," she told him, taking off her shoes. "Is your brother home from school yet?"

"No, not yet, but he said he was going to stop by Sora's and see what kind of progress they had made," Yamato informed her. A smirk came to his lips as he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why?"

"Just wondering," Kari said, shrugging. "I figure maybe if I come by before work he'd be more apt to staying home and sleeping tonight rather than spend all night at the club with me."

"So that's where he went last night," Yamato mumbled, more to himself than Kari. "Dai called not an hour after he left to see if he wanted to go clubbing."

"I told him he was going to get himself into trouble," Kari shook her head.

"I didn't rat on him," Yamato shrugged, hopping onto the couch. "I think it's rather cute. My brother has his first crush on a girl."

"You are so mean to them, you know," Kari commented, sitting down next to him. "Those rumors you started about them being gay is why the Dragon gang harasses Daisuke all the time."

"Hey, I didn't know that would happen," Yamato defended. "And it's not like I can go back and change it."

"But still," she continued. "Have you ever walked down the street and had to look back every few seconds because you were afraid that someone was following you? It's…scary."

"It's not that bad," Yamato dismissed. "They don't follow Dai around. They don't have to. They know where he lives."

"That can be even worse," Kari whispered. "You don't really care, do you?"

"No, it's not my problem," Yamato denied coldly.

"Whatever you say. Tell Takeru I stopped by please," Kari requested, getting up to leave.

"Look, you don't have to leave," Yamato said, following her. "I just don't like it when people tell me who and what I'm supposed to care about. _I_ choose who and what I care about."

"Really? I could have sworn…" Kari trailed off, putting her shoes on.

"What?" Yamato prompted.

"Nothing," Kari replied monotone.

"No, really. What?"

"I get the impression that you don't care about anyone," she stated, leaving him slack jawed at the door. He just stood there staring at the spot where she used to be, transfixed until her voice sounded again. "You're not a really good friend."

"I am too!" he yelled, running out of the apartment to argue with her further, but she had already gotten on the elevator and was heading down. "I'm a _good_ friend. _And_ a good brother. She doesn't know anything."

-----------------------------------------------

Beep.

_"You have mail. Would you like to read it now?"_

Beep.

_"You have 1 new message. Sender unknown." _

Chosen—

Are you tired of being ridiculed  
and hated by others? Want to  
prove you are not a freak? Want  
to take your rightful place in the  
world?

Be watchful. Your time is coming…

A friend…

Beep.

_"End of new messages."_


	11. 11

A/N: Revised.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 11**

"I'm home!"

Takeru walked into the deserted apartment and dropped everything immediately. After the boring detention he served for dosing in science class, all he wanted to do was hop on the couch and zone out for a while. He wasn't too shocked that no one answered him, seeing as Yamato had band practice nearly every day after school. So when he landed on Yamato after diving over the back of the couch, he was understandably surprised.

"Hey, watch it," Yamato grumbled, promptly pushing Takeru off of him.

"What are you doing home?" Takeru argued back. "And why didn't you answer when I called out?"

"I didn't hear you," Yamato replied. His brother gave him a look that said, 'Yeah, right.' Yamato got up and started for his room. "I was thinking."

"Well, sorry for interrupting, seeing as that only occurs once in a great while," Takeru joked. A door slamming down the hall was the response he got. He shrugged, then turned on the tube.

Yamato flopped down on the bed, irritated. That girl's words were irking him to no end, so he decided, just because he felt like it, not because he believed her, to test her observation. He picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hey, Sora," Yamato smiled. "What's new?"

"Not much," Sora sighed. "We're still looking through the birth records. I can't believe how many people were born in Tokyo in a dozen years."

"Crazy, huh?" Yamato commented. "But otherwise, how are you doing?"

There was a long pause.

"I'm fine," Sora said. "Why?"

"Nothing. I was just curious."

"Yama, are you feeling okay?"

"What?" Yamato chuckled. "Can't I ask how my friend's doing? Why would you think something's wrong?"

"No reason," Sora replied quickly. "Listen, I gotta go. Meems and I have a ton of work to do, but we'll call when we're done, okay?"

"Yeah," Yamato agreed, flat toned.

"Oh, and tell Takeru not to stop by the shop until we're done going through all this stuff," Sora whispered. "Meems doesn't think too well of him right now."

Yamato hung up the phone, frowning. He decided to try again.

"Hey, Jyou," he greeted.

"What's wrong now?" Jyou asked, exasperated.

"Nothing's wrong," Yamato told him. "Why would you think that?"

"Because," Jyou said, as if repeating the most obvious thing in the world. "The only time you call is when there's a world crisis in the works."

"Nevermind, then," Yamato growled, angry. "Just forget I called."

He hung up the phone without saying goodbye, then felt even worse. That girl was right. He wasn't much of a friend to anyone. But he _was_ a good brother. He knew that for sure. The phone began to ring and Yamato ignored it, ashamed to face whoever was on the other end. He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door, suddenly remembering how late for practice he was.

"Fine, don't get the phone!" Takeru yelled after him. "And leave the door open while you're at it."

Takeru grabbed the cordless as he made his way to the door to close it, grumbling the whole way.

"Yeah, whaddya want?" he hissed into the phone. He listened intently, his features changing from irritation to confusion through the course of the call. "What?"

----------------------------------------------

"Oh my god, they're multiplying," Kari joked as Daisuke and Ken crowded into the music box.

"My own personal boy genius," Daisuke joked back. "Never leave home without it."

"So, this is where you work," Ken observed amusedly, eyeing his surroundings. "Interesting."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kari said, freeing Demi-Veemon from the backpack and setting him under the console with Agumon and Gatomon.

"What do they do under there all night?" Ken wondered.

"I don't think I want to know," Daisuke laughed.

"Gatomon is teaching them how to play poker," Kari grinned. "How was school?"

"Boring," the boys answered in unison.

"Getting anywhere with the port thing?"

"Nah," they responded jointly.

"…Okay," Kari raised her eyebrows, giving them a look. "You guys are spending _way_ too much time together."

"We're just that much alike," Daisuke said, throwing his arm around Ken's shoulders. Kari just looked at them for a few seconds, then burst out laughing until she began to cough.

"That isn't good for you, you know," Ken chided, steadying her. "Maybe you should sit down."

"I'm fine," Kari reassured him. "So, what brings you out tonight?"

"Well, Daisuke told me about this hot brunette at Club Firewalker, and I just had to come check it out," Ken revealed, staring at the wall 'o music. He turned to smirk at her. "I mush agree, she is a hottie."

"You guys are too much," Kari shook her head, walking to the door to answer a clubber that had been banging on it for the last two minutes non stop. She was more than surprised to see Takeru there looking distressed. "What's wrong?"

"We have problems," Takeru announced, slipping into the room. He nodded hello to Ken and Daisuke. "The Dark One has already made their first move."

"What?" Kari asked.

"So soon?" Daisuke asked.

"What'd they do?" Ken asked.

"Everyone has been calling Willis and telling him about some strange message that was sent to them this afternoon," Takeru explained. "Willis called me, and we both checked our mail and saw similar messages."

Daisuke pulled out his mini-computer and checked his own mail. "I have mail."

"Something to the effect of 'Join me and we'll take over the world?'" Takeru guessed.

"Yeah, that's the first one," Daisuke confirmed. "I have another one."

"What's that one say?" asked Ken, looking over his shoulder.

"It says:

_Chosen, _

If you truly want to  
take your place in  
the world, then don't  
hesitate. Your  
destiny is waiting for  
you.

A friend.

Enter here

and the 'enter here' is a link," Daisuke told them.

"A link to what?" Kari wondered aloud.

"We gotta show this to Miyako," Takeru decided. "I have a feeling that this link doesn't go anywhere in this world."

"You mean like a link to the digital world?" Ken asked.

"The bastard beat us to it," Daisuke fumed. "I wonder how he did it, though."

'Me too,' Takeru thought, staring at Ken. "Listen, I got a thousand things to do in the next couple of days, so I'm taking off school."

"Hey, how come you get the job with all the perks?" Daisuke whined.

"Because my job isn't done yet," Takeru reasoned. "Yours is. Once Miyako gets a hold of that link, she'll know exactly where the data is going, real world or digital world. So you get to go to school and keep me up to date."

"No fair," Daisuke pouted.

"I can choose to go to school when I want," Ken offered. "Do you still want my help, Takeru?"

"Good idea, Ken, if you don't mind," Takeru agreed. 'I can watch him all the time now.'

"Alright, when do we start?" Ken asked.

"Tonight," Takeru answered. "You and me are going to get to emailing people to not freak out and make sure that they _do not_ under any circumstance use that link. Who knows what it does right now."

"Guess this means goodbye," Ken half-smiled, giving Kari a light hug. "I'll see ya."

"Bye," Kari called behind them, watching the two squeeze out the door and into the mosh.

"Well, if it's all the same to you, I'm just going to hang out here," Daisuke decided. "Somehow I feel a lot safer in numbers."

"I hear ya," Kari agreed, looking down at the three digimon under the console as they exchanged worried looks.

----------------------------------------------

_"He doesn't trust you," _whispered that ominous voice.

'I know that,' Ken told it. 'You know what they say about keeping your friends close, and keeping your enemies closer.'

"Hey, Ken," Takeru started, looking back. "We can stop at your place and pick up some things if you want. It's going to be a long couple of days."

"That's okay," Ken dismissed. 'I have all I need in my pockets.'

_"Don't get cocky," _the voice advised. _"We cannot afford to screw up when working in such a close proximity to these ones." _

'I still don't see what's so special about them,' Ken complained. 'They all seem ordinary to me.'

_"I've told you time and time again to just trust me," _the voice reminded him, the tone sounding more annoyed than usual. _"These are the ones. I can tell."_

'How can you tell?' Ken asked.

_"Ask the boy," _the voice responded. _"He knows. He may not realize it yet, but he knows." _

"Hey Takeru," Ken began, as they charged down the sidewalk. "You and your friends are great, and have been wonderfully nice to me…"

"But," Takeru prompted.

"But I don't understand how people with such differing personalities and interests can be so close of friends," Ken said. Takeru stopped his quick pace to face him.

"You know, for a while I didn't know myself," he murmured, staring at the ground. "At first, things were so awkward that I thought we'd all end up fighting all the time. But then I saw something."

"What?" Ken asked, genuinely curious.

"We all had our places in the group," he revealed. "We all found a way to fit in. We each had a special something, as corny as that sounds, that made us, I don't know, a team I guess."

"Like what, for example," Ken prompted, milking the young man for information for all he could get.

"Well, Jyou was always there to keep us from doing stupid things," he began listing. "Yama kept us on track, for the most part. Sora made sure we were all okay and generally took care of us. Mimi, well, Mimi I haven't figured out yet. I think she's the comic relief."

"Makes sense I guess," Ken murmured. 'But not really.'

_"Don't you see?" _the voice began. _"Each of his friends has a trait that is so outstanding that it gives them an advantage when they fight, whether or not they realize it yet." _

'So? What can I do about that?' Ken thought. 'If they already have that advantage, how can I take it away?'

_"Simple," _the voice stated, almost quivering with pleasure. _"You're going to break them. That's your next errand." _

'How?' Ken asked. 'What about the messages and the recruiting? Am I just supposed to drop it?'

_"No," _the voice contradicted. _"Leave that to me. You focus on the task at hand. You will break them of their special trait, one by one." _


	12. 12

A/N: Finally. End of revisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 12**

"Thank heavens," Sora sighed as she finished going through the last of the birth records. "This took forever. Let's ship these off to Takeru. I never want to see them again."

"Ditto," Mimi agreed, placing all of the 'maybes' into a separate folder. "Every single one of my nails are either broken or chipped, my hands look like mince meat, and I think I've gone cross-eyed."

"Did you talk to your parents today?" Sora asked.

"Yep. Daddy is still mad that I am missing school, but I reminded him of D-day and he gave in," Mimi revealed. She sighed. "Wow, has it really been four years since we took on Phantomon?"

"Yeah," Sora concurred. "Kinda hard to believe, isn't it. And it's been eight years since we first got dragged into this whole mess."

Mimi blinked. "Oh my god."

"What?" Sora asked, looking at the somewhat horrified Mimi.

"Sora, we're getting old!" Mimi cried.

"Oh, Mimi," Sora chuckled, shaking her head at the somewhat predictable response. "We're in our early twenties. We are nowhere near old yet."

"No, that's not what I meant," Mimi disagreed, looking kind of sad. "Think of Iori and Miyako and Daisuke. We were their age when we fought against Phantomon and his armies."

"So?" Sora asked, not really seeing where things were going.

"So, they were so young back then that aside from Takeru, they weren't able to help with the creation of The Plan and the enforcement of it," Mimi reminded her. "If you think about it, it was us four older kids that took care of things. The others were there of backup."

"I still don't get it, Mimi," Sora said, somewhat confused. "What does that have to do with what we're doing now?"

"Sora, what are we doing now?" Mimi asked. "You and me, doing mindless work; Jyou, all he had to do was get the birth records; is Yamato even doing anything?"

"No," Sora caught on. "And what we're doing is for Takeru."

"Exactly. We have become as useful against this Dark One as the others were against Phantomon four years ago."

"Kinda makes you feel wanted, doesn't it?" Sora asked, sarcastically. "Well, lets drop this off at Yama's and then go out and celebrate our uselessness. You game?"

"Always," Mimi grinned, the mischievous look coming to her eyes.

----------------------------------------------

Yamato trudged into the apartment loudly. He didn't really care what time it was, all he wanted was a nice, long escape into his bed. Practice had gone horribly, and his attitude hadn't helped anything. In fact, the band had broken up. Again.

'Third time this month,' Yamato thought. 'No wonder we get nothing done.'

He tossed his guitar case on the couch and began dropping clothes on the way to his room, promising to clean up the mess later. The computer in Takeru's room was still on, and he thought he'd apologize to at least _one_ person for the past day's actions.

"Hey, T.K., you still up?" he asked as he pushed open the door. Takeru looked up at him annoyed.

"I told you to stop calling me that," he muttered. "Where have you been? I must have beeped you about twenty times. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"What's he doing here?" Yamato asked, pointing to Ken. "Did you finally choose to turn in Daisuke and upgrade to a better friend?"

"Yamato Ishida!" Takeru yelled. "Get serious for one minute! We have got a big problem on our hands, and all you can do is crack stupid jokes!"

"Alright, alright!" Yamato yelled back. "What is so distressingly wrong?"

The look on Yamato's face went from mildly pissed off to utterly disbelieving in the span of time it took Takeru to explain everything. He'd gone rather pale by the end of it.

"How could so many things go wrong in the course of about twelve hours?" Yamato wondered aloud.

"I have no idea," Takeru sighed. "But I do know that if we don't get moving, we are going to be in serious trouble."

"I'm done with the emails you wanted me to send," Ken interjected. "What's next?"

"Um, Miyako and Izzy are working on that link, plus they gave us all the port signatures, so I guess we have to go through those," Takeru yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Other than that, we are waiting on Sora and Mimi for the list of names."

"Are these the port signatures?" Ken asked, pulling up the file that Izzy had given them. There were more than a dozen dots in different areas on the screen. Most of them had x's through them, indicating that they were a port that was used by Kari.

"Yeah," Takeru affirmed, looking over his shoulder. "There are three ports that we have to check out."

"It's pointless," Yamato stated.

"Why?"

"See these points?" he pointed. He pulled out a map of Odaiba. "These spots are all in public places. This one is the library, this one is the electronics store at the mall, and this one is a school."

"This guy is clever," Ken praised quietly. From behind him, Takeru glared. There was a knock at the door, and Yamato went to answer it.

"So the port map is pointless," Takeru surmised. "Maybe we are going about this the wrong way."

"What do you mean?" Ken asked.

"Maybe instead of trying to figure out who this guy is, we should be trying to figure out his next move," Takeru deducted aloud. Yamato walked back in carrying a folder.

"That was Mimi and Sora," he told them. "They finished going through the birth records. This is the list of maybes they came up with."

"According to Takeru, we don't need that anymore," Ken informed him.

"What _are_ we going to do then?" Yamato asked.

"We are going to figure out this guy's next move, and block it," Takeru decided, a determined look on his face. He turned to Ken. "Any ideas of what the next move may be?"

"Well, he's already attracted an audience," Ken began deducting. "Also, he's set up an easy way to gain followers. I think the next logical move would be to—"

Ken stopped mid sentence.

"To what?" Takeru prompted, hoping that Ken didn't think before he spoke.

"To...To go after the person or persons that present the biggest threat to him," Ken finished, looking pale.

"He's going to come after us?" Yamato asked. "But he doesn't know who we are."

"Ken, what's wrong?" Takeru interrupted. Ken was still pale, and looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"I gotta go," Ken suddenly said, getting up and rushing out of the apartment. Yamato and Takeru stared at each other.

"What was that all about?" Yamato asked.

"I have no idea," Takeru shrugged. "But if what he said was right, we are his next targets. We have to be extra careful."

"You still think it's Ken?" Yamato asked.

"More than ever," Takeru nodded, grabbing his jacket and heading out the door to follow Ken.

----------------------------------------------

"You can spend the night at my place if you want," Daisuke told Kari. "My parents have taken Jun out to visit one of the colleges she applied to. I have free reign of the place for an entire week."

"I'll have to talk to Tai about it," Kari said, changing cds. "He'd want to come, too."

"That's fine with me," Daisuke shrugged. "The more the merrier. And even if you guys decide not to come, I probably will be following you home. I don't exactly relish the idea of being by myself the entire week."

"I know what you mean," Kari smiled, moving to the door to answer it. Someone had been banging on it for five minutes straight. "Alright, I'm coming!"

Ken burst through the door before she got there. He looked around the small room suspiciously for a few moments before actually seeing Kari in front of him and Daisuke next to the console.

"I made it in time," he panted, pulling Kari into a hug. "I thought for sure I was going to be too late."

"Too late for what?" Kari asked, pulling back. "What's going on? I thought you went with Takeru."

"I did. But I'll explain later," Ken stalled, grabbing the backpacks from the wall and reaching under the console. "We have got to get out of here right now."

"Ken, I am working. I can't just up and leave," Kari argued, pulling Gatomon out of his arms and setting her back on the floor. "They'll fire me for that."

"Do what he says, Kari," advised Takeru, entering the room.

"Hey, man," Daisuke greeted, disturbed at seeing the grave face he wore. "What's the matter?"

"Nevermind. I'll go get Tai, you guys just get ready to leave," Takeru told them, heading for the door.

"No, I will not leave until someone explains just what the hell is going on!" Kari yelled. No one answered her. Even if someone had, though, they would not have been heard over the explosion at the entrance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: The end of revisions mean new chapters to come. Sooner or later. If I were a betting person, I'd bank on later...


End file.
